Download The potential for Drawing on Japanese Traditional Theatre in the

The potential for Drawing on Japanese Traditional Theatre in the
Development of a Contemporary Sinhala Theatre
Prof. Kulatilaka Kumarasinghe
Introduction
In Japan one of the most ancient forms of theatre is called Noh alias Nohgaku which is
the oldest surviving form of Japanese Theatre. It includes music, dance and singing to communicate
Buddhist messages. This classical lyric drama was created during the latter half of the Kamakura period
(1185-1333) and the early part of the Muromachi period (1333-1573).1It is highly stylized, masked, song
and danced drama, in which elegance of voice, dramatic movements and acting techniques are the highest
goals. Comic interludes called Kyogen provide the satirical relief between the heavier Noh plays. These
two forms have developed side by side through the centuries and are collectively referred to as Nohgaku.2
Noh is a composite art based on the three elements of song, dance and drama. Of the three, the dramatic
element is the least important, for the main aim of Noh is not to unfold a story scene by scene in as vivid a
way as possible, but rather to capture the mood of the moment and represent it in an aesthetically satisfying
way by a blend of words, music and dance.3 Noh being essentially a unitary form of play, any attempt to
understand, it by studying its elements separately, for example, the chanting or an idea involved in it by
itself is futile. Noh should always be considered as an organized, omnibus art.4This was an aristocratic
form of amusement, formal, restrained and soon static. Although it greatly influenced the other forms of
native theatre, it remained primarily the theatre of the intellectual and the sensitive audience.5
Noh is written with a Chinese character meaning ‗to be able‘. It signified ‗talent‘ hence
‗an exhibition of talent‘ or ‗performance‘.6
The development of the Nohgaku theatre can be divided into five main periods: 7
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Pre-history, the time of old legends;
The Nara period (710-794) and the Heian period (794-1192)
The Kamakura period(1192-1333)
The Muromachi period(1333-1573)
The Edo period(1600-1868)
During these five main periods, Noh was influenced by various contemporary arts, folk
dramas and various religions, such as Kagura, Bugaku, Gagaku,Sangaku, Dengaku,Sarugaku, Waka,
Renga, Shintoism and various sects of Buddhism, which had very formal defined structures.
Origin:
Noh‘s first origins have not yet been traced, although an immense amount of time and
labour has been spent by playwrights, academics, art historian and literary critics an investigating its
origins. Noh have gone through many stages of development over the centuries. Zeami Motokiyo-founder
of Noh, wrote Fushikaden-Teachings on style and the flower, discussing the elements of Noh origin. In
the introduction, he has discussed how he thought about Noh‘s origin.
―Some say that the Noh owes its origin to the country of the Buddha. Others say that it
dates from the age of gods. In either case, its origin is so remote that it is impossible to imitate the original
performance as it was. Here in our country, the Noh plays which people nowadays enjoy have their origin
in the 66 pieces of public entertainments given by Hata-No-Kokatsu in the reign of Empress Suiko.Prince
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Shotoku had ordered him to give them partly to pray for peace and prosperity of the whole country and
partly to give pleasure to people. He called them the sarugaku. Since then one playwright after another had
added descriptions of the beauties of nature to the sarugaku to make it more and more artistic. The remote
descendants of Hata-no-Kokatsu have handed down the sarugaku from father to son and have belonged to
the Kasuga shrine in Yamato province and the Hie shrine in Ohmi province.‖8
He claimed the origin of Noh was enacted in the episode of the celestial rocky cave in
the Age of the Gods.
―The Noh is said to date from the age of gods. When the sun-goddess concealed herself
in the Celestial Rocky Cave, utter darkness reigned over the whole country. All the gods and goddesses
held a meeting on Mt.Kagu in Heaven to talk about how to calm her anger. Then they played sacred music
and performed comic dances. Among the rest, a goddess whose name was Ama-no-uzume-no Mikoko
stepped forth, holding a sakaki twig with pendant shide on it, sang and danced vigorously, beating time
with the feet, in a state of divine inspiration. Hearing her voice faintly, the sun goddess opened the cave
door a little. Then it was light in the whole country again. The entertainments given by the gods and
goddesses were very amusing. The singing and dancing at that time are said to be the origin of the
sarugaku.‖9
This episode can be found in two old books, Kojiki and Nihon-shoki. Kojiki was a
record of the earliest Japanese legends. Nihon-shoki was a similar work produced a little latter, in 720 A.D.
In the same essay, the chapter 4, The History of the Noh, Zeami also suggests a possible
Indian origin for sarugaku10. The hypothesis is that sarugaku had an Indian origin appear to be purely
Zeami‘s own invention; certainly there are no other known sources for it.11
It is generally supposed that Noh originated from another form of entertainment. It was
called sangaku, when it first came to Japan from China in the seventh century. The theatrical sangaku
became more and more popular. The main sangaku repertoire in Japan consisted of mimes.
Sangaku was often performed on special occasions attended by high ranking aristocrats.
On the other hand, Sangaku remained a public entertainment for the masses. Although Sarugaku and
Sangaku share the same origins, they had developed very differently. Once, Sangaku became a part of
ritual. Then it ceased to develop and became formal and stylized. At the end of the Heian period it died out.
Then Sangaku took over its name, having itself become more dramatic more vulgar and more amusing.
Kino-Gonno-Kami was believed to be the founder of sarugaku in the Ohmi district.
Sarugaku in the Yamato district as being of better standing than sarugaku in the Ohmi district.12 The rise of
the Samurai brought Dengaku the rural folk drama, into the limelight. Dengaku had been widely
performed in the Heian period. It was performed in order to ensure that there would be a good crop, or in
order to thank the gods for a good harvest.13 The main part of dengaku was a dance called dengaku-odori.
In the Kamakura period dengaku and sangaku (by then called sarugaku) had a strong mutual influence on
each other.
Sarugaku and dengaku remained the major entertainment forms for common people.
Sarugaku has benefitted by becoming more involved in religious ritual. In order to performs its religious
role sarugaku developed in complexity, and came to include two quite different forms of drama. One was
musical drama based on serious themes portraying of legendary, heroes and historical events (by then
called Noh).The other was comedy, which later developed in Kyogen.
2
Okina was the most important play in sarugaku. It was thought to have been the
portrayal of a dramatised Buddhist ritual. Zeami regarded Okina as the archetype on Noh dancing and
singing,14 at the end of the Kamakura period both dengaku and sarugaku became much more dramatic.
They were now designated as Dengaku Noh and Sarugaku Noh. Sarugaku also had another form called
kyogen. Neither Dengaku Noh nor Sarugaku Noh had yet developed the form which became known as
Mugen Noh, or dream play. With the development of Noh the dengaku and sarugaku lost their original
characteristics. The players devoted themselves to the performance of this more dramatically designed
form of play. At the first, either the dengaku or the sarugaku was engaged in the same type of play Noh or
rather the dengaku set the pattern which sarugaku followed. But with the coming of the Muromachi
period , there emerged talented performers from among the sarugaku group in rapid succession and
overwhelmed the dengaku15.During this time two great leading actors, Kan’ami Kiyotsugu and Ze’ami
Motokiyo absorbed a Sarugaku Noh and they did their best to develop it.16
History
During the Muromachi period, Sarugaku Noh and Dengaku Noh almost reached their
peak of perfection as performing arts. In these periods there were many celebrated actors in both fields.
They encouraged each other in further developing Nohgaku art. Ze’ami regarded Itchu, (a Dengaku actor)
Kan’ami, (Zeamis‘ father), Do’ami, (a Sarugaku actor of the Ohmi area) and Ki’ami (dengaku actor), as
the founders of Noh. Kan’ami respected Itchu, as his own teacher though he merely watched when he
acted.
Do’ami learned from Kan’ami was very grateful to his teacher. Ze’ami never had the
opportunity to see Itchu’s performances. But he saw the other actors of Noh of this period. He regarded
Ki’ami of Dengaku as the father of singing17.Ze’ami also admired Zo’ami’s Dengaku performances. He
was not only a talented actor but also an excellent flute player. Besides that Ze’ami regarded him as a best
carver of Noh masks.18 In accordance with Ze’ami’s explanation in Sarugaku Dangi, which was taken
down by Hata no Motyoshi, Doami was one of the very best Noh actors. He was a member of a troupe in
the Ohmi district, was in high favour with Shogun Yoshimitsu. Ze’ami recollected his outstanding
performance in Sarugaku Dangi.19
The Yamato-sarugaku had four troupes.
1. Yukiza troupe (The troupe which later became known as Kanze school)
2. Enmai or Takeda troupe (The troupe which later called as Komparu school)
3. Takado troupe (This troupe later called as Kongo school)
4. Tohi troupe (The troupe which later known as Hosho school)
These four were considered as major troupes. They overwhelmed the Omi-Sarugaku,
the dengaku their seniors and other minor groups, and held their supremacy in the Noh world throughout
the Muromochi period (1473-1490) and the Toyotomi period (1585-1615).20
Kan’ami 21 is the founder of the Yukiza. He organized this troupe in the province of Nara.
Though it is called Yukiza, it was often known by his own name, Kanze-za. Kan’ami’s remarkable acting
attracted much attention and his troupe soon shifted, first to the centre of Nara and finally to Kyoto. In
1374 Kan’ami had the honour of having Shogun Yoshimitsu (1358-1408). When He was thirty eight years
old he attended a performance in which Kan’ami acted with his son, Ze’ami. At that time Ze’ami was
twelve years old. Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu attracted to this young Noh actor. It enabled Ze’ami to meet
Nijo Yoshimitsu. He was an aristocratic poet, who helped Ze’ami to learn both Waka and renga poems.
Also he supported Zeami to understand Zen philosophy as it could be applied to the art.
3
Ze’amis’ father Kan’ami died when the younger actor was only twenty two, in
1384.Zeami was still too young to take charge of the troupe himself. His father‘s death was a great
disadvantage to the young Noh actor. He was not yet fully trained, but Ze’ami overcome this loss by
idealizing his father and the latter‘s dramatic art. When Ze’ami was a child, he had the stage name of
Oniyasha. It means a devil. But Nijo Yoshimoto gave him a more suitable name, Fujiwaka. It means,
young Wisteria. This change in name Ze’ami and his father brought about after they won the favour of
Shogun. In manhood, he was given a name Saburo. Ze’ami was his professional name. Afterwards, he
received the tonsure and called himself Sozen, Shio or Zenpo22.
Ze’ami and his troupe evidently enjoyed the continuing patronage of Yoshimitsu until
his death in 1408.But Ashikaga‘s successor, Yoshimitsu’s eldest son Yoshinochi (1386-1428) did not care
at all for sarugaku or for Ze,ami.He admired,Zoami, a dengaku actor. This change in power put the master
of Noh in a new situation, forced him indeed into facing the possible decline of the Noh theatre. So, during
this fourth Shoguns‘ rule, Ze’ami relinquished his title of Tayu or leader of the Kanze-zato his son,
Motomosa. When the Shoguns‘ death occurred in 1428, Ze’ami was sixty six. Then Yoshimochi‘s younger
brother Yoshinori, the sixth shogun (1394-1441) took over the region of government. Ze’ami and the
troupe were actually persecuted, on the orders of the Shogun23. The reason for this persecution is uncertain.
Some say it was because Ze’ami did not appoint Yoshinori‘s favourite actor, On’ami, to see his reveal the
secrets of his craft or allow On’ami to see his secret essay of instructions. From this time on, Ze’ami and
his family suffered real personal difficulties.
In 1433, Ze’ami’s older son Motomasa died. There is some suggestion that he was
murdered by order of Shogun Yoshinori. Motomasa‘s son Juro was too young to succeed to the leadership
of the troupe. On’ami (1398-1467) was officially appointed head of Ze’ami‘s family troupe by the Shogun.
In 1434, when Ze’ami was seventy two, he was banished to the island of Sado a remote area near Niigata,
in the Japan Sea. Four years earlier, Ze’ami‘s second son Motoyoshi (who wrote down the text of Ze’ami‘s
reflection on Art) abandoned the acting profession and became Buddhist priest. Ze’ami recorded his
sufferings in Kyakuraika.24
Ze’ami did insist on passing his treatises on to his gifted son-in-low Komparu Zenchiku
(1405-1468). He refused to give them to On’ami. Komparu Zenchiku himself became a playwright and a
theoretician of the Noh. Yoshinori was assassinated in 1441. Tradition has it that Ze’ami was pardoned and
allowed to return to the mainland before his death in 144325, On’ami, on the other hand served three
generations of Shoguns.
In the beginning, there were four main troupes mentioned earlier. Later they were
joined by an additional school, which was called Kita. It was founded by Kita Shichidayu who had been a
leading actor in the Kongo school. The Kita School is generally considered a branch of Komparu School.
Third Shogun, Lemitsu, had to expel the Kita troupe from court. But it was allowed to return through the
meditations of Date Masamune, a very powerful feudal lord who later became the patron of the troupe. By
the end of the Edo period this young company had become as refined and as traditional as the others26.
All the works on Noh by Ze’ami were written as secret books and preserved as such for
many long years. Most of Ze’am‘s books were written with the aim of passing the ideas of his father
Kan’ami on to posterity. There is no question, therefore, that his writings were basically an exposition of
his father‘s doctrines. Fushikaden (Teachings on style and the Flower), the main text of which is thought to
have been completed around 1402, when Ze’ami was forty, gives a through account of Ze‘ami‘s
understanding of the art from his father Kan’ami.
4
From the beginning of its history, Noh plays have always been written, composed and
choreographed by the actors themselves. Over the several hundred years since their creation, the plays and
the methods of presentation have been polished and improved by many generations of actors. 27 Although
over three thousand Noh plays are estimated to have been written since the second quarter of the 14 th
century, of which about a quarter survive, the practical repertory was limited to fewer than two hundred
and fifty , the bulk of them by Kan’ami and Ze’ami. Both before and after the Meiji Restoration, authors
continued to compose in Noh style, but the later plays were never given official recognition. 28 The last
major author, Kojiro of the Kanze troupe, died in 1516.Some ninety plays have been attributed to Kan’ami,
but his fame has been far overshadowed by that of Ze’ami, his son. Both left an indelible impression on the
theatre they helped to create but the son‘s contribution was the larger.29
The principal figure in the development of the Noh was Ze’ami30. When it comes to the
matter of play writing, Ze’ami was far superior to Kan’ami, not only in the number but in the quality of the
works he produced.31 Ze’ami refined the Noh and made it gracefully beautiful, attaching importance to
chanting and dancing. He made it more and more artistic, so that it has endured up to the present. He was
a great dramatist, playwright, actor and theorist, which strikes us with admiration. He is as rare as a blue
diamond in the theatrical world.
When we think about evolution of Noh, we can see many interesting stages in its long
history. In 1647 Tokugawa Lemitsu (1604-51) issued regulations for its governance, as stringent as those
by which he ran the country, tradition must be maintained. All must be written down plays, stage
directions, and inventories of costumes and masks. Only the actors‘ children may become performers.
During the Edo period (1600-1868) favoured commoners on auspicious occasions were invited for
performances at the Shogun‘s castle. They were forbidden to learn Noh music and dance. Then the Shogun
fell in 1867, and government subsidy of Noh stopped. It received little public support. It was kept alive
almost single handily by Umewaka Minoru 1 (1828-1909) associated with the Kanze troupe, until some of
the nobility began to support it. This support ended with the end of World War II. For the first time, in Noh
history its only sponsors were the public.
Contents
The plots of Noh plays are drawn from a variety of Japanese and foreign sources,
mythical or legendary, fantastic, historical or contemporary, from the earliest times down to the
Muromachi period (1392-1572);or inspired by Japanese and Chinese classical poems from the numerous
early anthologies. Principal among the former sources are the lse Monogatari (9thcentury), and the Yamato
Monogatari (10th century), the Genji Monogatari (11th century), the Heike Monogatari (13th century), the
Kojiki, and the Nihon Shoki (both8th century; used mostly in the Waki Noh) and the collection of Indian as
well as Chinese and Japanese tales and legends known as the Konjaku Monogatari (12th century).32 Plots
that are taken from the tales and legends of China and India, are called Karagoto. Here the main characters
may be a human being, an animal, or a mythological creature from a foreign land. There are a number of
plays based on Chinese legends. These plays do not have any exotic feeling because they are not
translations of the originals but adaptations of the sprite of each story, skilfully made Japanese. There are,
it should be noted, no Karagoto plays among the warrior Noh which are tales of Japanese heroes33. The
common human themes and sentiments embodied by the hero. A Noh play in other words, is not the telling
of a serious of events but an exploration, an evocation, and indeed a song of praise. The plots of Noh plays
are so simple that we can hardly call them stories.34
Noh was performed in ceremonies asking the gods to send rain, when the country was
hit by drought, and in thanks giving ceremonies when the rain had come35. Okina was a most important
5
one among Noh plays. It was an essential part of the ceremony on such occasions. Besides that Okina had
always been performed on religious occasions, at temples and shrines, in the late Heian Period and
throughout the Kamakura Period. But by the time Kan’ami and Ze’ami refined Noh, and as religious
elements increased. Okina was often omitted altogether from a days‘ program.36 With the exception of
Okina, which stands along, Noh plays are generally divided into five groups, according to their subjects
and central characters.37
1. Waki Noh or Kami Noh (god plays) because the hero is either a god or a goddess;
2. Shura Noh (Ashura plays), whose hero is a famous medieval warrior.
3. Kazura Noh (female wig plays), essentially lyrical in character in which the
protagonist is a well born lady.
4. Kurui Noh plays about loons.
5. Kiri Noh plays about demons, monsters and similar imaginary beings.
First group god (Waki Noh) plays are of the two scene variety. The shite, in the first
scene tells a story or recites poetry concerning the origin of a temple or shrine. After the interval, he
appears in the second scene as the god of the temple or shrines described in the first scene and perform a
felicitous dance. The shite is a god who praises the peace and prosperity of the land performs a dance in
celebration. This group also called such as shinji Noh. Their theme is either god or religious substitutes
such as the spirits of trees and flowers. The main purpose of this type of Noh is to give blessing to the
audience, whatever the actual theme of the play may be. The plays which belong to this group were written
in a simple form with very simple plots based on legend and mythology. Takasago, Tamura, Yumiya hata,
Kamo and Miwa are in this first group. Takasago is generally regarded as one of the best examples of this
type.38 According to the Jo, ha, kyu, the plays which belong to this group‘, are Jo level.
Shura Noh plays are of the introductory ha level, the beginning of the development
stage of the program. They are also called AShura Noh39 because the central figure of the play is usually a
warrior who fell in battle. Shura was a war loving evil god in Brahmanism, and the protector of religion in
Buddhism. The suffering of a warrior in hell and his salvation from it are the theme of these plays. Many
plays were written based on Heike tales, which described the downfall of the Heike or Taira family who
were defeated by the Genji family. These plays are almost exclusively about men, but the hero of one
warrior play, Tornoe, is a woman. In this category, there are also three kachishura battle pieces that
celebrate victory.40 Among Noh plays, certainly the best master pieces are the warrior- ghost plays.41
Atsumori, Yashima, Sanemori, Utoh, Tamura, and Kiyotsune are in this second group.
The third group of plays are called Kazura-mono42. Kazura, in Japanese, means a wig.
These are of the developmental ‘ha’ level, the unfolding of the developmental stage of the programme.
The main characters of the plays of this group are almost all women, and to perform these roles the actors
have to wear wigs. Many woman plays 43are based on stories from the classics of court literature, such as
Thinji or ‗The tales of Ise‘. The stress is on melodies, gorgeous costumes, and graceful dances. Third group
plays are the centre piece and artistic high point of full Noh programme. In this third group of plays, more
poems are quoted to express the emotion and feelings of the heroines. Toboku, Hagoromo, Kiritsubata and
Eguchi are belonged to the group.44
The fourth group of plays are called Kurui mono, lunatic pieces, monogurui Noh. Kurui
literally means madness. These plays are also generally placed in Ze’amis‘ fourth group Aisho, because
they include human tragedy. Main characters in this group are distraught for emotional and psychological
reasons. There are many different kinds of main characters; old people, blind men, warriors, women, and
spirits of the living and ghosts of the dead-so the plays in this are also called Zatsu, or miscellaneous Noh.
6
In general it can be said that the plays in this group are more dramatic than any others, 45 they include
‗madman‘ pieces, and madwoman pieces. Koya, Monogurui, Tsuchi guruma belong to madman pieces,
and Sumidagawa and Hanagatami belong to mad woman pieces. This section can be again divided into
five units, according to the reasons of the disturbances suffered by the main protagonists.
The first of them is called Fukyo, love of the poetical. The main characters in this
subordinate unit have an excessive love of the beauty of the nature. Kagetsu and Miidera are good
examples for the unit.
In the second unit, madness caused by unrequited love is the theme. Sumidagawa is the
good example for this unit. In this play, a woman whose son has been kidnapped goes mad. Her love for
the child sets her off on a long journey from Kyoto to Azuma in the east. This play ends as a tragic.46
In the third unit, the theme is that of madness reasoned by supernatural possession of a
human, Makiginu is good example of this unit.
Feigned madness is the theme in the fourth unit. Characters in this unit pretend to be
mad in order to achieve their objectives. Hanagatami is the best example of it.
The fifth unit concerns genuine madness which is the reason of the sufferings of the
characters. In the ancient time, mad people were expelled from their families, since it was regarded as a
disgrace to have mad people in one‘s family. The play, Semimaru is a good example of it.
The fifth unit of plays are called kiri Noh (cut, end), tome Noh (stop), Kichiku Noh
(demon, beast), Zatsu Noh (Miscellaneous). The main character is often non-human; it can be a demon, an
evil spirit, an animal or an imaginary creature. A demon in Noh is a symbol of evil or of human fear. There
are two types of demon.47 One has human feelings and thoughts. The other one is a nonhuman demon.
Ze’ami called the former one the devil of saido- fu a devil with a human heart and emotions. It symbolizes
human wickedness. He called the latter the devil of rikido-fu, which is the frightful image of a demon in
hell.
Noh plays that have tengu as the main character are grouped together and called tengu48
pieces. A tengu is a master who lived in the deeply wooded mountains. It was believed to have a human
shape with a very long nose, a red face and the magical power to fly about and to do impossible things.
Among the animal characters, there are a fox, a lion, a heron, a spider, and a nue which is a mixture of
several animals. A nue has a head like a monkey, a body like a badger, a tail like a snake and limbs like
those of a tiger. The plays, Nomory, Tsuchigumo, Momijigari and Funabenkei49 belong to this category.
The plays in this group generally have two acts, and the tempo on the whole is faster than in other plays.
The main characteristics of this group are their strong rhythm and fast tempo. Similar to the first group god
plays, the shite appears in human form in the first scene, then revels his true form, that of devil or demon,
in the second scene. Some plays handle good demons are always conquered by a human being in the end.
Ze’ami himself was not much interested in this group of plays and wrote very few plays of this genre.
Here plays have been classified according to the subjects and characters, 50this might be
called a vertical division. The plays can also be divided horizontally into genzai Noh or present time
phenomenal Noh. About half of fourth group‘s plays belong to the phenomenal, (genzai) form and half to
the phantasmal (mugen) form.51
Noh was highly influenced by Buddhism and Shintoism. It can be seen not only
Ze’ami‘s Noh plays, but also his treatises, which were written about Noh theories. In the middle of the
7
eleventh century an early form which was to give rise to Noh consisted of simple humorous farces based
on such characters as immoral priests and nuns and countrymen visiting the capital for the first time. Great
Buddhist temples employed professional players to perform at festivals and ceremonies, and largely as a
result of this, the humorous plays came to be displaced by others of a more serious nature. Many of these
later plays were designed to explain the significance of religious rites or to depict Buddhist legend for the
simple people.
Characters
Noh does not require a large number of performers. Actually, the concentrated
atmosphere is produced most effectively by a single performer in a single, simple, refined dance. However,
at least one more actor is necessary to provide a motive for the dance- the foil on which deeper expression
can be achieved. Thus Noh can be effectively performed with as few as two actors.
The central characters of the Noh drama are supernatural beings (gods, devils, tengu,
spirits of the dead etc.) or figures from the history of Japan (famous men or women of the Heian period ,
celebrated warriors of the Heike tales etc). There are few actors on stage in a Noh play. Usually there is the
protagonist or hero (the Shite) and the deuterogamist (Waki), who provides the stimulus for the Shite‘s
internal drama. The Shite appears first as a human being and then as a ghost. This structure of
concentrating on a single character and following him to interchange between this world and the next is
unique to Noh. Since death is the point of contact between these two different worlds, the theme of Noh is
the passions, especially those of love and battle, which lead to death.52
The principal actor, almost invariable masked, is the Shite. In a sense, he is the only
actor. Shite is related to the verb suru, ‗to do‘ and the Shite is the actor in the literal sense of the world, the
doer, the agent.53 He holds the key role, and it is by his performance that the play stands or falls. It is he
who performance the crucial dance, and the others are the merely to provide a dramatic context and throw
his performance into relief. The shite of a Noh play is what defines the special nature of the drama,54it may
be any of a variety of diving beings, a human being, young or old, male or female; a ghost; a vengeful
sprit; a demon; an animal; or an imaginary creature. The shite who appears in the first half of a two act
play is called Mae –shite, in the second half is called the Nochi-shite. Those who assist him in and the
main role are known a shite-tsure and wear masks only when impersonating female characters. These
characters, together with the chorus and stage assistants, belong to the same school.
The actor who plays the secondary part comes from a different school and is known as
the Waki; his assistants are Waki-tsure and are never masked. His name, meaning ‗by- stander‘ precisely
expresses his function. The relative function of waki and shite may be seen most easily in the
‗reminiscence‘ plays. It is normally the Waki who appears subsequently as his interlocutor. Once the Waki
has introduced himself and asked the questions which prompt the shite story, his job is over. The stage is
then left to the shite’s recitation and dance, and it is by this that the performance is judged. The Waki only
remaining function is to make himself as unobtrusive as possible.55 in action and language the Waki role is
strictly subordinate to that of the principal, and this is emphasized in the conventional positioning of the
characters.56
The waki is always a human male who is alive at the time of the actions of the play. He
never represents a ghost, a demon, a god, or a woman. The Waki is the representative of the audience. But
in fact the most important function of the Waki is to create a reason for the shite to appear and perform. In
addition, he evokes, with appropriate responses, the thoughts, feelings, feedings and pleas of the main
8
character. So this is very important ‗antagonist‘ role essential to the development of the play. Actually
waki is the coordinator of the play57. A waki actor never performs a shite role and vice –versa.
The waki’s costume provides sufficient identification for his role. So his face is left bare,
with no mask or make up. He must make his role convincing through proper use of voice and gesture along.
The tsure is a character who accompanies the main character, either as shite-tsure or
waki-tsure. The tomo is a companion, an even smaller role than the tsure; it is usually added only for
dramatic interest. He wears masks only when playing female roles.
Kokata means literary ‗child actor‘ and it indicates the type of role played by young
boys; around the age of ten. It is also natural that the roles of children should be acted by young actors. But
there are also several adult roles which are performed by them in Noh Kokata appear most often in the mad
woman plays. Many times persons of very high rank, such as Emperor, are played by kokata. In FunaBenkei the great warrior yoshitsune, is played by the kokata.
The kyogen group has two functions in Noh. First, its members perform the comedies
known as kyogen which are presented between two Noh plays. Second one or more kyogen players usually
appear within a Noh play, itself, as will be seen from the list of characters. Sometimes these players act as
sword bearers, boatmen, serving woman etc. And take some direct part in the action of the play during the
interval (ai) in a two- act play. They are therefore often known as Ai.58 Kyogen or simply as Ai-Kyogen,
players can be distinguished by the yellow tabi socks which they wear, for all the other performers wear
the usual formal white ones. Masks are sometimes used, both by Ai-kyogen and players in the kyogen
comedies.
Noh Stage
The Noh stage is made completely of unfinished Hinoki, a Japanese cypress, and the
stage has almost no ornamentation. The term Noh stage is used to refer to the stage, bridge and mirror
room, and the word stage to refer collectively to the square area of the main stage, the side stage and the
rear stage. The main stage is three-dimensional solid space formed by a roof and four pillars. The side
stage is a space with a railing on two sides. The rear stage extends about nine feet back from the main
stage.
The special word for the passage way, between the main stage and the mirror room is
the bridge; called hashigakari. The bridge is about two meters wide and usually about ten meters long,
joins the stage at an oblique angle, connecting it with the mirror room (kagaminoma).The upstage part of
the fan boards, called the kyogenza or ai-za, where the Ai-kyogen sits waiting to perform in Noh.
The mirror room is sometimes also called the curtain room. It is an extension of the
dressing room and also the beginning and ending point of both the acting and the actor‘s magical
transformation.59The place that is generally occupied by the audience has a special name in Noh Kensho,
the watching place. The dressing room in a Noh theatre is normally plain tatami mattered with sliding
walls. Properly there should be arrow of, such rooms, the one closet to the stage for the shite and
attendants, the next for the waki, the next for the instrumentalists, and the next for Kyogen performers.
Along the front of the entire structure, at the floor level of the auditorium, is a strip of
pebbles, one meter wide. In front of the bridge in this area are placed equidistantly, three pine trees.
Upstage of the bridge, which is railed on the both sides, are two pine trees. A stylized pine is painted on
the back wall of the rear stage. This wall contains a one meter high sliding door (kirido), the only entrance
9
to the stage other than from the bridge. The entire structure is built of polished Japanese cypress. At the
front of the main stage, there are three steps (kizahashi), once used by the actor moving into the audience.
The auditorium is usually enough for the more than four or five hundred spectators.
The use of the stage is fixed by Tradition. The three or four musicians (hayashikata)
enter from the bridge, sit on the line between main and rear stage. Stage assistants (Koken) enter through
the low stage-left door and sit in the upstage right corner of the rear stage. Six or eight members of the
chorus (jiutai) enter through the same door and sit on the stage. Five pillars support the roof over main and
rear stage. Upstage at the point where bridge and rear stage join is the down stage of it is the main actor‘s
pillar (shite bashira) because beside it the principal actor (shite) stops after his entrance on the bridge. At
the down-stage -right corner of the main stage is the ―eye-fixing‖ pillar (metsukebashira). Opposite it at
stage left is the waki-bashira, the pillar of the subordinate actor waki. Upstage of it is the ―flute‖ pillar
(fue-bashira).
The chorus60 and the ‗choral music‘ of Noh are called jiutai or ground chant. This
consists of six to twelve persons in ordinary native dress seated in two rows at the side of the stage. Their
sole function is to sing an actor‘s words for him when his dance-movements preen his dance-movements
prevent him from singing comfortably.61 They enter by a side door before the play begin and remain seated
until it is over.
With the exception of Okina a Noh play uses, three or four musicians, each playing a
different instrument. These are the flute, a small drum (kotsuzumi) held on the right shoulder and struck
with hand; a slightly large drum (otsuzumi) held on the left hip and also struck with the hand; and in
certain plays, a big drum (taiko) which is set up on a low stand and played with two drumsticks. The four
instrumental musicians come on stage61a before all the other performers and play the entire music, which is
like sacred invocation. Actually, the music of Noh is cantered more on rhythm than on medoly. 62 The
music of Noh is music of ‗ma‘ performed in accordance with the principal of ‗jo‘, ‗ha,‘ ‗kyu‘63.
The vocal music of Noh, chanted or spoken, is called utai. Utai is a kind of uta, a song or poem.
The instrumental music of Noh is usually called hayashi. It is sometimes called No-bayashi to distinguish
it from the hayashi of kabuki-style singing, festival music and like. It may also be called shi-byoshi or four
rhythm makers. The hayashi of Noh is a highly developed rhythm centred musical form.
Three kinds of properties are used on the bare stage of Noh. They are stage props
(tsukurimono) set to manipulate the space; small props (ko-dogu) held or worn by the actor; and multipurpose props (tayo-dogu).
All stage properties in Noh is simple constructions huts, boats and carts of bamboo,
cloth and similar materials, assembled by hand for a single performance and dismantled when it‘s over.
They are carried on and off the stage by attendants as necessary. This gives them a temporal element that
distinguishes them from the sets in other forms of theatre.
In contrast to the set props, which are assembled for a single performance, the various
small personal properties are, polished art objects and are made to be used many times. There are handheld props like the folding fan, the stiff Chinese style fan, a stickle, halberd, lance, bucket, hand mirror, ice,
lute, hand bells, prayer beads, treasure or branch.64 The fan65 is the most important property. It has been
classed above as a hand-held prop. But it is also a multi-purpose prop. It can be used to represent many
objects such as wine jug, flute, water scoop, writing brush, or sword in Noh and is used quite graphically
in nearly all kyogen.
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Although wealthy Sarugaku sponsors might gave actors elaborate and expensive
costumes for subscription. Noh, their ordinary costumes were the plain silk clothes worn in everyday life.
Many of the costumes used today were constructed in the 18th and 19th centuries when the patterns, colours
and materials to be worn by given character were codified.
Noh Writers
The earliest authors of Noh plays known today were Kan’ami Kiyotsugu (1334-84),
Ze’ami Motokiyo (1363- 1443), his son and Ze’ami‘s son Juro Motomasa (1394-1431). Apart from these
three generation of writers of the Kanze school (as it is known), Kojiro Nobumitsu (1435-1516) a
descendant of Ze’ami’s younger brother of the Komparu family ‘Zenchiku Ujinobu’ (1405-1470) and his
sons all wrote Noh plays. Zenchiku was Ze’ami‘s son -in-law. There were other writers unrelated to the
Kan’ami, Ze’ami family including Kongo (dates unknown possibly not one man) and Kyuzo (dates
unknown). The reason why the name of ‗Ze’ami stands so high today as an author of Noh plays is that he
wrote many of the 240 plays still performed.66
Ze’ami stresses the great importance of an actor writing Noh plays to win public
competitions, other which was quite often held at the time of Kan’ami and Ze’ami. Writing and acting
complemented each other. They were two sides of the same coin as these creative processes allowed actors,
to produce their art from the inside.67 Kan’ami wrote many plays in his energetic and realistic style. Ze’ami
wrote many plays in his highly poetic dream-play style, and his son Motomasa wrote a few excellent plays
in rather gloomy tragically style.
Dance, mime and rhythm are distinguishing characteristics of the Noh Drama, the
ultimate purpose of which is significant from expressing the aristocratic beauty considered indispensible to
elegant imitation68. Noh is an event to be experienced directly and personally. It is not a panorama like
‗opera‘ or Kabuki aimed at the large group of spectators in a one-way process.
Noh is distinguished by two special characteristics. One is the sanctity of the stage
space, inherited from the ritual nature of Dengaku, which developed from an ancient agricultural festival.
The other is a kind of magical technique, bequeathed by the tradition of sarugaku, a form of popular
entertainment based on mime, from which Noh developed.69
At the centre of the diagram is Noh and surrounding it are the six fundamental artistic
elements, dance, music, literature, folklore and history, fine arts and architecture. Noh could be defined as
a stage art with sides. The elements are equally important and arrange not randomly but in a ring.70
All performers are on the same level on the stage, and the beauty of Noh is created by a delicate balance of
the art of the performers71.
Some of the individual characteristics of this operatic dance drama include its unique
stage, its complete concentration on the shite role, its use of masks, and its use of dance as an important
means of expressions its methods of vocalization, its highly poetic scripts, and its orchestra.
Finally, when compared with the other styles of the theatre in the world, particularly
with various dramatic theories of the West, Zeami’s artistic theory clearly demonstrated three major
characteristics, 72 first Zeami attached great importance to the audience that witnessed a performance.
Second, he laid a particular emphasis on the actor‘s mental and physical acting among the diverse elements
that constitute the theatre. Third, he gave a high place to stylization in acting. So Noh‘s acting can be
considered as highly stylistic acting which is very much peculiar to itself cannot be compared.
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Buddhism in Japan
Buddhism is believed to be arrived in Japan around the middle of 6th century.73 However,
Buddhist teachings and practices have been prevailed throughout the country long before the arrival of
Buddhism.74 Buddhism flourished in the ruling period of Shotoku Taishi. By Nara period Buddhism was
well established in Japan. When taking a look at Japanese history, Kamakura period seems especially
favourable to Buddhism.75 Japanese priests have taken steps to modify the teachings of Buddhism
according to the era. As a result of these modifications done by a Japanese priest, Amida Buddhism
emerged. Nichiren is another result of such an effort.76
As a result of great efforts of intelligent Buddhist monks, Buddhism in Japan was divided into
different subdivisions. These subsections can be classified as Amida, Zen, Thendai, Shingon and Nichiren.
Out of these sub categories, Amida Buddhism and Zen Buddhism have influenced a lot on the tradition of
Noh Theatre. According to the scholars, the belief of Amida Buddhism has originated in early A.Ds. As
this concept is not mentioned in early Buddhist writings, this is believed to be arrived from Iran. As the
creation of Buddha like Awalokitheshwara and Samanthabhadra, Amida too is created by emphasizing a
certain characteristic of Lord Buddha. Theravada Buddhism does not support the idea of Great savoir in
Amida Buddha. Therefore this concept of Amida Buddha flourished with the emergence of Mahayana
Buddhism. In the middle of 7th century, Sukhavathi Vyuha Sutra was introduced to Japan. A Buddhist
monk called Genshin (924-1017) worked hard to popularize Buddhist Philosophy in Japan. He believed
that Nirvana could only be attained by rebirthing in Sukhavathi; the paradise of Amida Buddha.
Senchakushu written by Honan in A.D. 1198 gives an excellent explanation of the concepts of Amida
Buddha.77
Honan has classified religious ritual into two sections. One section was known as Shodo and the
other as Jodo. Shodo dealt with the religious practices that are needed to attain Nirvana while Jodo dealt
with sacred land. Jodo believed in the way of salvation, believing on the power of Amida Buddha. Honan
came up with the idea that one can attain Nirvana just by chanting Amida Namaskara. The only thing
essential here will be the firm and true belief. He explained Buddhism in a simple way. According to him,
Nirvana is the rebirthing in the paradise of Sukhavathie too.78
Amida or Amitabha Buddhism
Mahayanists were interested in identifying the universal source of the inspiration that awakened
and produced Shakyamuni. And they identified it as the Dharma or universal Buddha hood. In order to
show this spiritual basis of Shakyamuni in a more concrete human form, Mahayanists created the concepts
of Amida- an ideal human being, a―humble and dynamic‖ human being who embodies the Dharma.79
Mahayanists described this ideal human being in Mahayana Texts such as the Sukhavati Vyuha-Sutra. The
earliest version of this Sutra was composed in India in approximately the first century B.C. The larger
Sutra conveys the story of a seeker by the name of Dharmakara (Storehouse of the Dharma). Dharmakara
symbolizes the ‗Innermost Aspiration‘. After performing many difficult practices, Dharmakara fulfils his
―Innermost Aspiration‖ and becomes Amida Buddha.80
Amida alias Amitabha81 is a celestial Buddha described in the scriptures of the Mahayana school
of Buddhism. Amitabha is the principal Buddha in the Pure Land Sect, a branch of Buddhism practiced
mainly in East Asia. Amitabha is translatable as ‗infinite light‘; hence Amitabha is often called ‗The
Buddha of Infinite light‘.82
Through his efforts, Amitabha created the ―Pure Land‖ (in Japanese Jodo) called Sukhavati.83
This ‗Pure Land‘ is situated in the uttermost west, beyond the bounds of our own world.
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Amitabha is considered as the Buddha of the comprehensive love. He represented as a
meditating Buddha, lives in the west. His most important enlightenment technique is the visualization of
the surrounding world as a paradise.83 In Shin (new) Buddhism, Amida’s name, Namu Amida Butsu, is the
most important thing.84 Namu Amida Butsu means‘ Bowing Amida Buddha‘. It has other meanings such as
‗taking refuge in‘, ‗worshiping‘, and ‗revering‘. This name expresses the ‗humble and dynamic spirit‘, the
essence of Buddha hood.85It is better to examine the story of Dharmalankara in the larger Sutra. At the
beginning, Dharmalankara meets his teacher and expresses his satisfaction by praising his teacher. After
receiving instructions from his teacher, Dharmalankara makes his vows and engages in a practice called
‗eternal practice‘. And he eventually becomes a Buddha by the name of Namu Amida Buddha.
Although he takes up various practices, such as precept keeping and meditation, the most
important practice Dharmalankara performs offerings (kuyo)).Because of this offerings practice,
Dharmalankara becomes a Buddha by the name of ‗Bowing Amida Buddha‘ (Namu Amida Buddha).
Although kuyo is usually translated as ‗making offerings to a Buddha‘, it implies the whole process of
learning. Kuyo basically means that a student visits a teacher and studies under him. 86.‗Bowing Amida
Buddha‘ means that Dharmalankara has become a Buddha because of his ‗Bowing‘. Bowing and offerings
practices are synonymous. ―Bowing‖ (Namu) is the most important part of the name.
Dr. Nobuo Haneda, on his article, what is Amida Buddha, has discussed on the concept of
Amida. In that article he says like this; Amida is ―a personal symbol.‖ In other words, Amida is a fictional
character ―like Romio or Macberth. Let me explain this definition by first discussing what Amida is not.
Since Amida is a fictional character, he is (1) not a god (or a diving being) and (2) not a historical person.87
Next, let us discuss what ―Amida‖ is, what he symbolizes. We can say that ―Amida‖ symbolizes
two things, (1)Shakyamuni, a historical person, and (2) the Dharma or universal Buddha hood.
We can say that ―Amida‖ symbolizes the ―humble and dynamic spirit‖ of Shakyamuni. As we have seen,
Mahayanists created the concept of ―Amida‖ in order to criticize the fossilized doctrines of Hinayanists
and restore the vital spirit of Shakyamuni.88
Second, ―Amida” symbolizes the Dharma or universal Buddha hood. Mahayanists created the
concepts not only to express the vital spirit of Shakyamuni, but also to show the spiritual basis of
Shakyamuni and all human beings.
Zen Buddhism
Zen is a school of Mahayana Buddhism which is a mixture of Indian Mahayana Buddhism and
Taoism.89 The word Zen is from the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese word Chan which in turn is
derived from the Sanskrit word dyana. It can be approximately translated as ‗meditation‘ or ‗meditative
state‘. Zen emphasizes attainment of Enlightenment (satori) through sitting in meditation (zazen). The
teachings of Zen include various sources of Mahayana thought including the Prajnaparamita literature,
Madyamaka, Yogakara and the Tathagatagarbha Sutras. The essence of Zen is attempting to understand
the meaning of life directly, without being misled by logical thought or language.
Zen Buddhism was investigated in the 6th or 7th century. As a matter of tradition, the
establishment of Zen is credited to the south Indian Pallawa prince turned-monk Bodhidharma. He came
to China during the rise of Tamil Buddhism in Tamilakam to teach a ‗special transmission outside
scriptures, not founded on words or letters. Several scholars have suggested that Bodhidharma as a person
never actually existed, but was a combination of various historical figures over several centuries.90
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Some scholars have argued that Chan developed from the interaction between Mahayana
Buddhism and Taoism, while others insist that Chan has roots in yogic practices. The origins of Zen
Buddhism are ascribed to the Flower Sermon, the earliest source for which comes from the 18 th century.
The first step is to control our minds through meditation and other techniques that involve mind and body;
to give up logical thinking and avoid getting trapped in a spiders‘ web of words.91‖If you use mind to look
for a Buddha, you won‘t see the Buddha. As long as you look for a Buddha somewhere else, you will
never see that your own mind is the Buddha. Don‘t use a Buddha to worship a Buddha. And don‘t use the
mind to invoke a Buddha. Buddhas don‘t recite Sutras. Buddha doesn‘t keep precepts. And Buddha
doesn‘t break precepts. Buddha doesn‘t keep or break anything. Buddha doesn‘t do good or evil. To find a
Buddha, you have to see your nature.‖92
Some schools of Zen work to achieve sudden moments of enlightenment, while others prefer a
gradual. Zen tradition includes periods of intensive group meditation in a monastery. While the daily
routine in the monastery may require monks to meditate for several hours each day, during this intensive
period they devote themselves almost exclusively to the practice of sitting meditation.93
The Impact of Zen Buddhism and Amida Buddhism on Noh Theatre
Cheryl Nafziger –Leis,94 The scholar, writing about the article on ‗The Influence of Zen
Buddhism on Medieval Noh Drama‘, says Noh is highly influenced by the Zen Buddhism.
The Zen-mi, or taste for Zen, of the court audience came to be reflected by the performance artists.
Their art gradually incorporated many aspects of Zen aesthetics and developed into the subtle and
graceful dance and music drama we know today as Noh. Thus, key to understanding Noh drama is an
understanding of the religious tradition in whose context the art form evolved.
―While one school of thought supports the claim that Zen Buddhist influences are apparent in
Noh, another school of thought disagrees. Paul Arnold, as one example of this latter school, insists
that Noh has no connection to the Buddhist tradition whatsoever. Rather, states Arnold, Noh drama
originated from a combination of pagan and Shinto sources; ―It is a well known error in the west to
consider the Noh as Zen art, The Noh is not even a Buddhist art; it is a form of theatre, which was
formed from a profane art of performance and, it seems, developed first in or around Shinto
shrines.‖95
Cheryl tried to reject the one part of Paul‘s statement, even though she agrees with Paul that
Noh did evolve out of both the performance tradition of Japan and the Shinto religion. She disagrees
with him regarding Noh‘s ties to Zen.96
It would be difficult to define what Zen is necessarily about the aesthetics of Noh. However Dr.
D. T. Suzuki left an overwhelming impression that the Buddhism of Noh is Zen through and through.
Both definitions of the Buddhism of Noh, as Amidism and as Zen, refer to schools of Buddhism
which are prominently active in modern times. According to Dr. Royall Tyler, Scholar said that most
Buddhist statements and expressions scattered through the text of Noh support neither Amidism nor
Zen. Moreover there are two particular difficulties with these schools. The first is that while Shinto
deities are not prominent in Noh, Zen nor the Amidist sects are concerned with the Japanese Gods.
The second difficulty is that while the content of Noh, whether religious or literary is conservative,
Zen and the Amidist sects were relatively recent in the late fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries, the
time when Noh was new. Dr. Royall Tyler said; Noh in those days was a widely popular art, not
normally a vehicle for religious innovation.
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However, what of their ideas, when we peruse the contents of Noh, since fourteenth century,
Noh has been a vehicle for Shintoism, Amidism and Zen. So after considering the arguments of the
scholars, we can say that the Buddhism in Noh is simply Amida and Zen. When comparing Zen and
Amida, Zen did have a significant influence on the medieval arts of the Japanese people. This does not
deny, however, that other schools of Buddhism also influenced the Japanese arts to a certain degree.
For example, Shingon Buddhism‘s contribution to the graphic arts is important. Nevertheless, Zen‘s
impact was greater; Zen pervaded the whole Japanese culture.97
Ze’ami, in his treatises on the art of Noh stresses the divine roots of this art form. According to
Ze’ami, Noh has both Shinto and Buddhist roots. Especially, at the beginning Noh was enacted in the
episode of the celestial rocky cave in the age of the Gods.98 When we discuss about the origin of the
Noh, we can understand that retelling the origin of Shintoism.99 So, it is clear that Noh is a vehicle of
the popular religions; Shintoism and Buddhism.
At the beginning, Noh was highly influenced by the Shintoism, later Noh was developed
gradually by the influence of Amida and Zen Buddhism. Nobody can deny this idea because Noh
stories were centred on doctrines of Amida and Zen Buddhism.
The form of the art of Noh drama dramatically changed under the influence of court patronage.
Just as Kan’ami had added the elements of the Kusemai to his performances to make them unique, he
now added other elements to please his new audience in the court of Yoshimitsu. Characteristic of
court life of the period was a taste for Zen. More significantly, Yoshimitsu himself was a great patron
of Zen Buddhism. As a result, ‗it is natural that the production of Kan’ami and Ze’ami were
influenced by Zen teachings.
In the Noh drama, prominent character, the Shite generally belongs to another world. Because
the plot revolves around one main character, with the waki, the second character, as a mere support
role or observer, there is no conflict between characters or incidents, as it is said by the eminent
playwright, Bernad Show: ―there is no drama, there is no conflict‖.
In brief, the structure of most Noh plots begins with the entrance of musicians and the chorus,
who are the followed by the waki. The waki, often portraying a monk, starts to tell the story. He
establishes the local and the circumstances, of the main scene about to unfold. The waki then moves to
the corner of the stage, where he sits and awaits the arrival of the shite. Dressed in elaborate costume,
in contrast to all that surrounds him, the shite enters and sings and dances out his story. As his tale
unfolds, one learns that the shite is not so much an actual being as the personification of a soul. In the
second act, if there is one, the shite usually assumes his real identy.100
Cheryl Nafziger- Leis is very much fond of Noh theatre and Zen Buddhism; she fully paid her
attention to prove Noh is highly influenced by the doctrine of Zen. She tried to express her ideas,
especially forwards the main characteristics of Noh, structure and its essence. But she did not clarify
her ideas, discussing the stories and plots of Noh drama. If she did like that she had to express that
Noh plots were similarly influenced by the mixture of Amida Buddhism and Zen Buddhism in the 14th
and later centuries. In many Noh plays, the traveller has no link with the place or with the person. If
such a play, presents a Shinto deity the traveller will normally be a Shinto priest, but in other plays, of
in the sort he will typically be a Buddhist monk. The monk has no name, and the scene of the play is
not his destination. He is simply passing through.
The Buddhism of Noh is composed of devotion to Amida, of faith in the Lotus Sutra, and of
elements of esoteric Buddhism. Faith in the Lotus Sutra, like devotion to Amida, had been prominent
15
in Japanese Buddhism for centuries. The Tendai School considered that its teaching was founded
upon the Lotus, but the Lotus Sutra was not at all confined to Tendai. Reciting the Lotus was an
essential practice for a great many ascetics. Buddha preached the Lotus Sutra near Rajgir in north
India, the Bodhisattva Kanon (Avalokitesvara), is prominent in the Lotus Sutra. He was venerated at a
great many sacred mound sites. The Bodhisattva Fagan (Samantabadra) appears in the play Eguchi.
Mountains are the central element in the landscape of Noh. The other elements are the full
moon, water, the water‘s edge, and a pine tree. These appear in a great many plays. The yearning for
rebirth in paradise was essential to the religious life of most people, cleric or lay‘ hope for salvation,
so often expressed in Noh, is probably the main reason why the Buddhism of Noh has been defended
as Amidism.
Amida Buddhism, Zen Buddhism and Noh Scripts
The play Sumida Gawa(Sumida) River written by Kanze Juro Motomasa, Ze’ami’s eldest son
emphasizes on the concept of Amitabha Buddha. The writer has been clever enough to illustrate the
eternal truth of Buddhism through his play.
A mad woman comes to the bank of Sumida River, looking for her son who has been kidnapped.
She wants the boatman to take her to the opposite bank before the night falls. While crossing the river
the boatman tells how a boy died a year earlier after having been left behind by slave traders. The
woman realizes that the boy was her own son. The boatman takes her to the grave of the child. Then
she begins to recite prayers to Amitabha Buddha for the soul of the lost child. As her prayers continue
the ghost of the child appears in front of her and explains everything. By the morning she realizes that
it is just a tomb and she overcomes of her sorrow and madness. She realizes the reality in human
life.101
The writer has illustrated the ideas of Zen and Amida Buddhism through plot of the play Sumida
Gawa in a very creative manner. At the beginning of the drama, the boatman who represents waki,
does the self introduction and says that Nembutsu is to be held there on the same day because of some
reasons.
While the boatman takes the travellers across the river, the wakitsure asks why people are
gathered around a Yanagi tree pointing to the other bank.
―There is going to be a recite of Nembutsu‖.102 In the middle of the conversation the boatman
tells how a boy was left to die. Asking the people to bury him by the road side, he recited Buddha‘s
name and died. His grave is on the river bank.
―There could be people from capital in this boat as well. Even though we have no direct
relationship with this boy we should go and pray for him‖ says the boatman.103
Here Nembutsu means the prayers recited by worshippers for Amitabha Buddha. These prayers
go as Namu Amida Butsu. This prayer is chanted sometimes with musical instruments and dancing
and sometimes without. When the mother weeps for her child, the boatman says ‗now it is no use of
crying.‘ Why don‘t you to chant Nembutsu for his soul.104 Life is a temporary matter. That is the
reality. So there is no use repenting over some temporary matter. The poem playwright uses,
illustrates this truth. Mother realizes this eternal truth about life and she consoles herself by chanting
Nembutsu105.On her way, across the river mother weeps about her child. Her feelings are wonderfully
16
expressed in poetry. By hearing her excellent poetic language, the wondering boatman questions her.
She answers him using again poems. The chorus highlights her feelings with their singing.106
This way of revealing the broken heart of the helpless mother to a bird, relates to Zen Buddhism.
Zen Buddhism can be considered as Dhyana Buddhism. According to some scholars this comes from
the sermons of Lord Buddha. Emphasizing the self and the soul is a concept of Zen Buddhism. This
philosophy aims to gain Buddha hood by exploring self. According to Huineng the pioneer of Zen
Buddhism, Wisdom and dhyana refers to the same thing.107The writer shows the feelings of the
mother using the concepts in Zen Buddhism. At the end of the play dramatist worships Amitabha
Buddha and says that it is the only way for the salvation. One purpose of Noh drama is soothing the
minds of the spectators, using the concepts of Buddhism.108
Women like the mother in Sumida Gawa are called ‗crazy women‘, and the Noh dramas, whose
protagonists are madwomen, are called Kyojomono (drama of mad women). The stories of mad
women dramas usually have a happy ending.109 In most of the mad women stories, although a mother
was torn away with her beloved, such as a child or a husband, for some reason and temporarily
becomes distraught because of her increasing affection the woman meets the loved one and regains
her sanity at the end. However, in Sumida Gawa, the child is already dead and mother can only see his
phantom and hear his voice.
According to tradition, Motomasa, playwright tried to complete this mother-son tragedy by
comparing the gallant image that the mother has from her son‘s living days and the appearance of the
juvenile ghost who is in burial outfit with messy hair and wandering around because he cannot go to
Buddhist Paradise.
Dojoji of Kanze Kojiro Nobumitsu(1435-1510) is a play based on Buddhism.110 It shows how
desire complicates the endless journey of life. This play is based on a story appeared in a Japanese
Buddhist Anthology in 12th century.
A young and lustful widow who is desirable for a young priest asks him to satisfy her needs. The
priest terrified by this strange request, flees from her promising to come at a later time. The broken
promise fills her heart with hatred. She runs after him. She comes to a flooding river. The poison of
hatred in her heart causes her to turn into a she- snake at the river bank. This she-snake crosses the
river easily and comes to the temple where the priest is hiding. She looks for him all over the place.
The terrified priest hides himself under the bell in the temple. The she-snake sees this fallen bell and
she coils around it and strikes it. Her fury causes it to burn with the priest inside.111
However there is a clear difference between the story and the play. According to the story, the
woman is a young widow, but in the play, she is a dancer. This naive girl is attracted to the priest
because of the frivolous talking of her father. The woman in the story was burning from fury;
however, the woman in the play is a pathetic character.112
Women are not allowed at the ceremony of setting up the bell in the temple, though this beautiful
dancer thinks of attending the ceremony. Her wish is to gain merit.113
―I heard that there is a bell setting up ceremony in the nearby Dojo Temple. I too must attend the
ceremony to gain merit to across over this river of a circle of rebirths (Samsara). The dancer says.114
She enters the temple and attends the ceremony.
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As the play unfolds the chief priest relates the original story to the other priests. The shaken
priests after hearing the story think of setting the bell up again. They pray for it. Here the strength of
Buddhism and the serenity, it creates for man is beautifully demonstrated. This drama shows how
desire can lead to destruction, not only self destruction but also the destruction of everybody and
everything. Here the dramatist has taken the she-snakes as a symbol of craving and desire. She- snake
is tamed by the power of Dharma.115
Dojoji is one of the representative works of Noh dramas. One of the highlights of this drama is
ranbyoshi; which is performed only by the shite and a small- drum player for about fifteen minutes. In
this scene, the small hand drum player draws up facing the shite to create a world keenly focussing on
the performance of one other. The climax of this drama is the scene where the shite jumps underneath
the falling bell.116
The Noh play Atsumori, is based on ―The Tale of the Heike‖ which recounts the struggle for
power between the Taira family (Heike) and the Minamoto family (Genji) 117 at the end of the twelfth
century. This was written by veteran playwright, Ze’ami Motokiyo.118In the first scene, Priest Rensei
is on his way to Ichi no Tani to pray for the salvation of the soul of Atsumori whom he killed
sometime in the past during the war. Downtrodden with grief, Rensei goes on to his journey. On his
way, he hears the sound of a flute giving sweet music in the air. Rensei stops in his tracks and waits
for the flute player to pass. He then sees that it is a young reaper accompanied by his comrades. The
young reaper is left alone by his friends. This leaves Rensei wondering. The priest inquires about the
young reaper‘s identity.119
Reaper;
How is it, you ask? I am seeking for a prayer in the voice of the evening waves.
Perhaps you will pray the Ten Prayers for me?
Priest;
I can easily pray the Ten Prayers for you, if you will tell me who you are.
Reaper;
To tell you the truth-I am one of the families of Lord Atsumori.
Priest;
One of Atsumori’s famiies? How glad I am. Then the priest joined his hands (he
kneels down) and prayed.120
Rensei kneels down and utters a prayer to Amida Buddha.
Namu Amidabu
Praise to Amida Buddha!
―If I attain to Buddha hood.
In the whole world and its ten spheres
Of all that dwell here none shall call on my name
And be rejected or cast aside‖
Atsumori belongs to Kichiku mono group of the Noh category which presents the shite as a
ghost/spirit. It has two scenes. The first of which is when Priest Rensei meets the reaper, the young
man who was playing the flute. The second scene reveals that the young reaper is, in fact, the soul of
Atsumori. The shite role is that of Atsumori, while the waki role is portrayed by Priest Rensei.
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The doctrine of Amida Buddhism is also highly reflected in ‗Atsumori’. Being a priest Rensei
sings prayers to Amida Buddha.121
Sotoba Komachi also is the very good example for my argument that the Buddhism in Noh, is the
vehicle of spreading religions .This was written by Kan’ami Kiyotsugu in the 14th century.122In the
disputation between Komachi and the priests, she upholds the doctrines of the Zen sect, which uses
neither scriptures nor idols; the priests defend the doctrines of the Shingon sect, which promises
salvation by the used of incantations and the worship of holy images.
The story of Komachi must have seemed to many pious people a Buddhist sermon on the vanity
of human wishes and the ill effects of pride. As such, it doubtless appeared too simplistic to the author
of this play, Kan’ami at any rate he gave the story a very different conclusion in accordance with the
insights of the Zen sect to which he belonged.123
Noh is not an exclusively Buddhist art form since it contains ritual and spectacular elements that
are more in keeping with Japan‘s indigenous religion, Shinto. However, many of the subsequent
conventions of Noh are consistent with, and sometimes directly from, Buddhist doctrines. The
reverberations of events long past within the shite‘s consciousness are felt to be more important than
the events themselves, as indeed is the case in Komachi. This is entirely in line with Buddhist teaching
since Buddhism is above all a doctrine of salvation, and salvation is considered, if at all, not be
stirring deeds but by an inner transformation.124
It is one of the most important tenants of Zen that although enlightenment may require
perseverance, it cannot be achieved by effort but comes about, as it were, by accident.
There are two priests in the drama; one is a priest of the Koyasan; other is second priest.
Conversation is prevailed between these two characters, and talking about the doctrine of Buddha.125
This is one of the oldest existing Noh dramas. This short piece describes attachment in the
dialogue between Komachi and General Fukakusa.126 Although the original story of the one-hundrednight visitation describes the fate of a man who cannot complete his mission on the vary last night,
this Noh piece changes the ending so that he receives the providence of Buddha.127
The piece describing a man‘s obsessive love is truly gloomy. However, the leading character of
this drama, General Fukakusa, has an aristocratic well-bred character, a graceful sincerity. This
creates an aura beyond gloominess, all the more reason to lead audience to the world of pity and
sensitivity. Dr. D.T.Suzuki interpreted Zen not as a form of Buddhism but as a Japanese cultural value
with universal relevance. His use of western theological and philosophical concepts to explain the Zen
experience in modern ways influenced Nishida Kitaro (1870-1945) and other members of the Kyoto
school of Japanese Philosophy. In the early 20th century, many Japanese Intellectuals described Zen as
the underlying essence of Japanese culture or as the unique form of Japanese spirituality. In 1938
Suzuki described Zen as ―a religion of will power‖ and identified Zen training with Bushido (the code
of conduct of the Japanese warrior class) and Japanese swordsmanship.
The play, Tamura also based on the Buddhist background, especially Amidism. One spring day, a
monk from an eastern province who has come to Kyoto visits Kiyomizu temple. He meets a boy
holding a broom. The boy answers that he serves Jishu gonen shrine. To the monk asking the history
of Kiyomizu temple, the boy explains the origin of the temple established by Sakanoue no
Tamuramaru. While he further lists the scenic sights nearby upon the monk‘s request, the sun sets.
The time shifts to a spring evening when the moon shines on the flowers. The boy and the monk recite
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the poem of ―A moment of spring evening worth thousands of pieces of Gold‖, and enjoy the view of
the Cherry blossoms in the temple.
Appearing before the monk who is left behind is a man who lives in the town outside of the gate of
Kiyomizu temple. He talks about the origin of that temple and assumes that the boy must be the ghost
of Tamuramaru. When the monk has been followed the recommendation of the man, chants the Lotus
Sutra to pray for the boy.
The play, Kakitsubata (Water Iris) also is based on Amida Buddhism. In this drama, a monk
travelling around the provinces is enjoying the luxurious water irises in full bloom on the bank of a
stream in the province of Mikawa, when a woman appears. She tells him that place, called Yatsuhashi,
is famous for water iris flowers. When the monk asks whether Yatsuhashi had been written about in
an ancient poem, the woman tells the old story of Ariwara no Narihira who composed the poem, ‗Just
as a Karakoromo‘ comfortably fits my body after wearing it a long time. I comfortably fit my wife.
The sun eventually sets. While apologizing for the simpleness of her residence the woman invites the
monk to her hut for lodging overnight. Later she reveals that she is the spirit of the water iris.128
She tells that Narihira had appeared in this world as the incarnation of a Bodhisattva of song and
dance; he offered the light of salvation to all living creatures in the world and the words of his poems
have the power to save even consentient plants. While reciting Narihira‘s story of love and poetry
recorded in the Tale of Ise, the spirit dances mysteriously and elegantly. Eventually she receives the
merit of the Buddha‘s law that leads even flowers and trees to Buddha hood. She achieves
enlightenment and disappears at dawn.
This drama, Kakistubata has only two characters, the spirit of the water iris (shite) and the
travelling monk (waki). It is a short and simple story which is completed in one scene, something
unusual to the style of Phantasmal (mugen) Noh. The lady connects Narihira‘s brilliant love with the
merit of Buddha, cantering on the story of Azumakudari in Ise monogatari.
In the drama of Kiyotsune, Kiyotsune‘s wife, who is handed her husband‘s hair as a remembrance,
bears resentment against him for breaking his promise to reunite and is smitten with sorrow? Then,
she returns his hair to Usa Hachimangu shrine because holding the remembrance increases her grief.
However, her love of her husband increases even more. When she hopes to see him at least in her
dreams, the spirit of Kiyotsune in armour appears in her dream, and the lovers who never are able to
meet in this life meet in this way. Although they are happy upon their reunion, the wife blames her
husband, who broke the promise of reunion, and the husband blames his wife‘s heartlessness as she
returns his hair to the shrine.
Another play, Toboku129 in early spring, a Buddhist monk attended by another monk travelled to,
Kyoto from an eastern province. They arrive at Toboku in Temple, where a splendid plum tree blooms.
As they watch the tree in wonder, they learn from a person who lives near the gate of the temple that
the plum tree is named ―Izumi Shikibu.‖ Then, a woman appears and corrects them; the tree should be
named‘ Kobunkoku‘ or ‗Oshukubai’. She narrates the story that Lady Izumi Shikibu planted the plum
tree. Although the monk and the woman exchange more words, she eventually hides behind the plum
tree illuminated scarlet by the sunset glow. She then disappears.
The monk talks to the person living in the temple town again and hears about the
history of the Toboku in temple and the story of Lady Izumi-Shikibu. While the monk recites
the Lotus Sutra to pray for the woman, the ghost of Izumi-Shikibu appears. She reveals that
she has already become a Boddhisattva of singing and dancing and talks about her memory
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associating her tie made by Buddha. After preaching the virtues of Japanese poetry and the
preciousness and wonderfulness of Buddha‘s doctrines, she dances.130
Although the storyline is neither dramatic nor remarkable, this play describes a deep philosophy
which lauds the virtues of Japanese poetry and teaches the preciousness and wonderfulness of the
Buddhism.
The play called Ikuta131 also based on Buddhist background, written by Zembo Motoyasu (14531532). Here the one of the character is a priest who represents Atsumori‘s child. Drama is begun, the
statement of the great preacher.132
The drama called ‘Kagetsu133‘emphasizes the power of Buddha, father who later became a
Buddhist monk, and son who was kidnapped by a long-nosed goblin, met each other at the Kiyomizu
temple and celebrating the delightful moment of the reunion of them. Both of them understood the
uncertainty of this world and set out together on a journey to follow the Buddhist way, Tsukushi in
Kyushu, there is a man who lives at the foot of Mount Hiko. When his seven-year old son went
missing, he renounced the world and departed on a journey of Buddhist pilgrimage. After travelling
around the provinces, the monk arrives in Kyoto and visits Kiyomizu temple for praying.
In this drama, main character Kagetsu sings a popular song, ―Love is Trouble‖, which is similar to
Pematho Jayathi Soko (Love begets sadness) in Pali, is related the doctrines of Buddha.
The play, Ama134 also expresses the way of Buddha, to get rid of a circle of rebirths ( samsara) for
eternally, to get the consolation for whole life; and the out of this world. Its story can be summarized,
according to the under mentioning.
Reading her letter, Fusazaki understand that in the underworld his mother desires salvation. In this
drama, one of the characters Fusazaki performs her thirteenth year memorial service at Shido temple
and consoles his mother. There while reciting the Lotus Sutra, his mother, who is transformed into a
Dragon lady, appears. She dances gaily and expresses her delight at attaining Buddha hood.
Hashitomi (Hajitomi)135 is also based on Buddhist background, expresses the power of Buddhism.
Main character is the Buddhist monk. Everything in the play is happening in his dream.
A Buddhist monk living in Urin-Temple in Kitayama, Kyoto, prays to console the spirits of
flowers offered to Buddha every day. At dusk a woman appears and offers a white flower. When the
monk asks the name of the beautiful flower, it is a moon flower; the woman answered. Pressing on, he
asks the woman name, she says that her identity will soon be revealed even she does not give her
name. Further, the woman says, she comes from the shadow of this flower and lives somewhere near
Gojo in Kyoto. Leaving these words, she disappears in the moonflower.
After listening to the tale of the love affair between Hikaru Genii and Lady Yugao from a villager,
the monk visits the Gojo area, following woman‘s story when the monk visits this place, there is a
lonely looking house just as in the past; with hinged half wall grilles entangled with blooming
moonflowers. When the monk tries to console Lady Yugao‘s soul, the one who appears by opening up
the hinged half wall grill is the ghost of Lady Yugao. She narrates the memory of her love for Hikaru
Genji and dances. Lady Yugao repeatedly begs the monk to console her soul and returns inside the
hinged half wall grilled before the break of day. It was all a dream the monk had.
In this play, a lyrical dialogue follows full of poetical allusions, from which it is apparent that the
madman is crying to Amida to save a child‘s soul.
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The Noh drama, named ‗Kosode-soga’,136 centre character, mother asks one of her sons to
become a Buddhist priest, but as he refused that request, mother angry with him and he is not
welcomed as a son of her. Unlike many other Noh dramas, which emphasize subtleness and
profoundness? There is no waki-character in this play. It can be a unique of this drama.
Kurozuka (Black Mound) is a one of the three female ogre stories, together with Dojoji (Dojoji
Temple) and ‗Aoi no Ue’ (Lady Aoi). Therefore, nochi shite wears the mask Hannya. This mask
embodies the resentment and fierce obsession of women; it‘s horrible look gives us an impression. In
this drama, main character, Ajari Yukei is a senior ranking Buddhist monk; who and his followers
practice ascetic disciplines.
Ataka, which is an interesting drama; which allows the audience to enjoy not only the story but
also the musical aspects of Noh dance, based on Buddhist background. This is a masterpiece of
modern (genzai) Noh, in which the story evolves as time actually flows. A group of twelve people,
including the master Yoshitsune and his followers, is disguised as mountain priests to escape from the
capital and Benkei leads the group. Here, a group of mountain ascetic priests collecting donations for
the reconstruction of Todo temple.
The drama Aoi no Ue (Lady Aoi) 137 main character, Lady Rokujo‘s spirit became peaceful and
capable of becoming a Buddha. So, this also, one of Noh masterpieces, express the powerfulness of
Buddhism.
Soon after this, Genji became reconciled with his wife Aoi, but continued to visit Rokujo. One
day, at the Kamo Festival, Aoi‘s way was blocked by another carriage. She ordered her attendants to
drag it aside. A scuffle ensued between her servants and those of Rokujo in which Aoi’s side prevailed,
Rokujo’s carriage was broken and Aoi posed into the front place. After the festival was over Aoi
returned to the Prime Minister‘s house in high spirits. Soon afterwards she fell ill and it is at this point
that the play begins.138
After a bitter fight, the vengeful phantom of hade Rokujo was overcome and calm down. Lady
Rokujo‘s spirit became peaceful and capable of becoming a Buddha.
At the end of the drama, chorus sing and emphasize the importance of the way of Buddha
hood.139
Chorus:
Fudo Immutable
Namahu Samanda Basarada
Senda Makaroshana
Sohataya Untaratakarman.
―They that hear my name shall get Great Enlightenment:
They that see my body shall attain to Buddha hood.‖
Ghost;
When she heard the sound of Scripture
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The demon‘s raging heart was stilled;
Shapes of Pity and Sufference,
The Bodhisats descend.
Her soul casts off its bonds,
She walks in Buddha‘s Way.140
The Noh drama Kuruma Tengu (Long nosed Goblin in Kuruma) 141 describes the interesting story,
which is related the Buddhism; some characters are the Buddhist monks who are involved in some
activities. In spring, in Kyoto at Mr.Kuruma, a mountain priest overhears a party bless the cherry
blossoms and he goes out to see the flowers. When the monks of Kuruma temple with children enjoy
the party of cherry blossoms, they notice that a mountain priest stays and shares the time with them.
The monks, who seem out of place, leave the site.
In the play, Yamauba 142, the mountain crone appeared in her anomalous figure, she narrated her
days living as a mountain crone in deep mountains and gorges. She preached the profound philosophy
of the law of Buddha and performed a dance which showed how a genuine mountain crone rounds
mountains. This drama includes, among other themes a profound discussion on Buddhist philosophy.
All of these stylistic and philosophical elements are entwined with each other in this masterpiece.
Drama called Ukai; (Cormorant Fishing) 143 also expressed the powerfulness of Buddhism. After
hearing the tragic death of the Cormorant Fisherman from the villager, the monks write a verse of the
Lotus Sutra on stones on the river bank and pray for the fisherman‘s soul. At the end of the drama the
character; Yama, Second priest emphasizes the way of Buddha for salvation.
―I am commanded to carry him quickly to Buddha‘s palace.
The demon‘s rage is stilled,
The fisher‘s boat is changed
To the ship of Buddha‘s vow,
Lifeboat of the Lotus Law.‖
144
Further the entire piece emphasizes the wonderfulness of Buddhism and Lotus Sutra. We can
glimpse aspects of ancient beliefs. It is also held that the travelling monk is saint nichiren himself.
Lotus is the main Sutra of Amida Buddhism.
It was clear that Noh is the great vehicle for spreading the Buddhism, especially Amida Buddhism
and Zen Buddhism during the period of 14th and 15th centuries. Although some dramas were based on
the background of Shintoism, it also mixed with the Buddhism.
The influence of Amida Buddhism and Zen Buddhism in Noh is clearly seen from the plays as
well as from the books written by Ze’ami on the theories of drama. The short comedies that emerged
in the middle of 11th century deals with the themes such of misbehaved priests, priestess, also the
village people who come to see the town for the first time. Buddhist priests in glamorous temples
were considered as professional actors. These plays were staged in different occasions. As a result of
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this, some scholars tend to categorize these humorous theatre performances as classical drama.
However, the plays of later periods aimed the common people and dealt with the Buddhist themes.
Zen Buddhism is the religion of artists. It helped to flourish the artists and poets in era of Sung
dynasty. It was the religion the artistic ruler who ruled Japan in 15 th century. The language used for
speech in Zen Buddhism was used for description of art as well. Ze’ami used style of make things
more colourful. However the religion revealed from Noh, is a middle path matter. It was the common
Buddhism in Medieval Japan. Zen Buddhism has influenced a lot to the works of Ze’ami. In his book
on Noh theory, Yugaku Shudo Fuken, he has provided with examples from Buddhism. In that book he
has quoted that the teachings of Kendai Buddhism to explain the poetic features of the poem on
Fujiwara Keike rule.
In his book he explains the concepts of existence and non- existence. His explicate the principles
of Buddhism as follows.
Existence is something to do with the external revelation. It can be seen with eyes. Non-existence
represents the hidden desire. It points up the container for all the arts. The container is empty from the
very beginning. That is the basic non-existence. It lifts the form of external plays in the second sub
category of fourth main category dealt with the theme of madness caused by frivolous love. When one
falls deeply in love with somebody, that love itself is capable of making one miserable. The idea is
emphasized in the play Sumida Gawa.
Ze’ami should never let the feelings to gain control over actions. Noh is a theatre form filled with
ghosts and demons. However, these ghosts and demons do not aim to scare the audience. They act just
as vehicle to explore the spiritual truth. It gives a confirmation of greatest salvation.
Shintoism
Shinto or Shintoism was the primitive religion of Japan, before introducing of Buddhism. This is
a very simple religion which gives one command, the necessity of being loyal to one‘s ancestors. The only
deity recognized in higher Shintoism is the spiritualized human mind 145.
Shinto gives divine status equally to forces of nature, to animals or to famous people. These
divinities are called kamis in Japanese. The name Shinto, however, comes from two Chinese words SHIN,
meaning ‗good spirits, ‗and TAO, meaning ‗the way‘. So Shinto is literally ‗the way of the gods‘. Shinto is
based on man‘s response to his natural and human surroundings.146
There are no images, no sacred books and no commandments. It was originally a way of thinking,
a way of looking at life. As a religion it is concerned with a verity of gods-the spirits of trees, animals, and
mountains, the principles of love, justice, and order, and the god-like ancestors, heroes, and Emperors.
Shinto has no supreme God and heaven, and unlike Chinese beliefs, it is not divinity but the place where
the gods (kamis) live.147 Prayers are made to the gods(kami) on various occasions for rain, good crops, and
the coronation of the Emperors etc. Shinto approves of the representation of God in the material.148Having
said that, in Shinto thought too there is an insistence that God is spiritual: the God (kami) is the power in
the nature, such as mountains, the trees, the sun and not these objects themselves.149Today, the practice of
Shinto does not imply any particular belief. The Japanese retain very little superstitious beliefs in the Gods
(Kamis) and they do not seek any rational justification for Shinto.150
Thousands of years ago, Shinto began as a religion centred about nature; and ever since it has
been closely connected with the natural world. It was a combination of nature worship and animism, a
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belief that everything is inhabited by a soul. It gives life or activity to substances. The chief heavenly deity
is Amaterasu Omikami, the sun goddess. To have unity with the Gods (kami), a person must have a bright,
pure correct heart. If a man does not have these qualities, he is in disfavour with the Gods (kami). Shinto is
the fundamental connection between the power and beauty of nature (the land) and the Japanese people. It
is the manifestation of a path to understanding the institution of divine power.151Shintoists love the sun;
thus they worship the Sun Goddess. The Japanese sing, dance, laugh, and clap at the sun to express their
joy and gratitude. The sun provides light and warmth, and causes the rice to grow. Without the sun, all
Shintoists believe they would die and go to the hell. The sun also signifies beauty, which is one of the main
concepts of Shinto. Anything that has beauty beyond the power of man is considered to be the greatest
kami.152
Gods (Kami) are generally worshiped at shrines (jinja). Worshipers will pass under a sacred arch
(torii) which helps demarcate the sacred area of the shrine. The ends of the upper crosspiece of the gate
curve upward to signal communication with the gods. The torii always marks a sacred place. As a symbol,
the torii marks off the earthly world from the kami world; the world of everyday life is separate from the
spiritual world.153Shinto has no real founder, no written scriptures, no body of religious law, and only a
very simply organized priesthood.154
Most Japanese people follow both Shintoism and Buddhism. The two religions share a basic
optimism about human nature, and for the world. Within Shinto, the Buddha was viewed as another kami
(nature deity). Amaterasu, for example, was identified with the cosmic Buddha Vairocan Meanwhile;
Buddhism in Japan regarded the kami as being manifestations of various Buddhas and Bodhisattvas.155
Ancestors are deeply revered and worshiped. All of humanity is regarded as kami‘s child. Thus all
of human life and human nature is sacred. Followers revere mushi, the god‘s (kami‘s) creative and
harmonizing powers.156
There are so many Shinto shrines; among them, some Noh scripts were based on Heian Jingu
(Kyoto), The Ise Jingu, Izumo Taisha, Kasuga shrine, Osaki Hachiman shrine, and Usa Hachiman shrine.
They were very famous, when the Noh scripts were written.157
The Influence of Shintoism to Noh Theatre
Several Noh stories were composing, based on Shinto deities, and Shinto shrines. For example,
Hanjo, which describes love affair, can be discussed; how far Shinto was affected to the theatre of Noh. 158
In this story, Yujo, a woman, who is skilful at dance and music and entertains guests at parties. Her name
was Hanago. One day she has met a man named Yoshida-no Shosho lodged at the inn on his way to the
eastern provinces. He and Hanago fell in love and exchanged fans before his departure as the symbol of
his promise for the future. Since then, Hanago has spent days only looking at the fan and thinking of
Shosho. Since she stopped serving at banquets, the mistress of the inn at Nogami feels disgusted at Hanago
who is now nicknamed Hanjo. Finally, Hanago is expelled from the inn.158
On his way back from the eastern provinces, Shosho visits the inn at Nogami again. He is
disappointed upon knowing that Hanago does not live there anymore.159 Shosho with broken heart goes
back to Kyoto and visits Shimogamo shrine to pray.160 At the shrine Hanago appears by accident.161
Though Hanago tries to prove the fan that she got from him, at the beginning Shosho did not believe. She
shed tears in distress. Shosho was watching the dancing; Hanago pays attention to her fan and asks her to
show it. Later, Shosho and Hanago see each other‘s fans and recognize that they are the lovers they looked
for. They are pleased by the reunion.162This drama was written by prominent playwright Kanze Ze’ami
Motokiyo.
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Different from other stories of mad women, which describe the separation from a child or a spouse,
this drama expresses sorrow, loneliness, a pure heart, and finally a joy of reunion of woman who has been
distantly separated from her lover. Various emotions of woman in love are described. This is one of the
highlights of Noh drama.
The Noh drama, Funabenkei (Benkei in a Boat) is also based on Shinto deities and prayers.163
However; dramatist did not allow the images of Shinto, to be gone up. Here Benkei rubs his Buddhist
prayer beads and devotedly prays to the five great fierce deities accept his prayer, at dawn the ghosts of the
Heike clan are subdued and disappear below the horizon.
The drama entitled Chikubashima (Chikuba-shima-Island) was composed by the playwright
completely based on Shinto concepts; it is clear when we describe the contents of that drama in deep. A
retainer of Emperor Daigo goes to Lake Biwa in order to pray at the shrine of Benzaiten (sarasvati) on
Chikubu-shima Island. The retainer takes passage in the fishing boat of an old fisherman with a young
woman whom he met on the show, sailing for the island in the lake. The old fisherman leads the retainer to
the shrine. The retainer asks the fisherman whether the landing of women on the island is barred. The two
then respond that this island does not prohibit women since it enshrines Benzaiten, who embodies
feminists. They narrate the origin of the island for the retainer. At the end, the woman reveals that she is
not a human and easily enters the shrine. The old man also reveals that he is the spirit of Lake Biwa and
then disappears. During the time the retainer spends at the shrine, he is allowed see the treasure of the
shrine by a Shinto priest, when the hall of the rumbles with the glowing vision of Benzaiten. Eventually,
around the time when the moon serenely and clearly shines over the lake, a dragon deity appears from
within the lake. The dragon deity offers precious gems to the retainer and forms the figure of blessing. She
sometimes turns into a maiden from the celestial world to oblige the living creatures by making their
wishes come true. Sometimes, he disguises as a dragon deity splashes himself in the waves of the lake and
jumps into the Dragon King‘s Palace. Benzaiten, alias, Sarasvati shrine had been established around the
fifth century. Sarasvati a divinity closely related to water. This Noh drama was completely based on the
concepts of Shintoism; it developed an invigorative divine story in the mild. Even Ze’ami also when he
wrote some Noh dramas, he mixed doctrines of Buddhism and concepts of Shintoism together. It is clearly
can be seen the drama, called Kiyotsune. In the drama, Kiyotsune‘s wife returns her husband‘s hair to Usa
Hachimangu shrine because holding the remembrance increases her grief.
When she hopes to see him at least in her dreams, the spirit of Kiyotsune in armour appears in her
dream, and the lovers who never are able to meet in this life meet in this way. Although they are happy
upon their reunion, the wife blames her husband who broke the promise of reunion, and the husband
blames his wife‘s heartlessness as she returns his hair to the shrine.
Shinto concepts have been encountered to some Noh dramas; for example, Kanawa (Iron Trivet) 164
could be mentioned one of them which belongs to the fourth category of Noh dramas. It has been attributed,
rather doubtfully, to Ze’ami.165 It‘s contents are cultivated, mainly based on Shinto doctrines.165a In
addition, Kazuraki, Takasago, Yoro, Kamo and Kokaji are also composed mixing with the concepts and
doctrines of Buddhism and Shintoism. According to the above explanations, it is clear that the Noh drama,
medieval poetical theatre in Japan is the vehicle for especially spreading the Buddhism.
Modern Sri-Lankan Theatre, Buddhism and the Impact upon it of Japanese Traditional
Theatre ;
Although the Zen Buddhism and Amida Buddhism were based on the drama like Noh in Japan,
Theravada Buddhism which was prevailed in Sri Lanka, did not encourage emerging the important
26
theatre tradition in the ancient times. According to a book of rules and regulations of Buddhist monk,
like ‗Dambadeni Kathikawata, songs, dancing, acting and music were considered as harmful
activities; especially it was prohibited for the literary writers like Buddhist monks. Most of ancient
writers in Sri Lanka at that time, were Buddhist monks, who could not participate in performing arts,
because of above mentioned reasons. It is clear that as there were some reasons, there was no drama
in Sinhala classical literature. From the earliest times, there had been a form of country dance
pertaining to customs and rituals in the folklore and ceremonies to invoke blessings on people, who
needed them to heal certain ailments, 166 they were not held for merely enjoyment, entertainment or
dramatic purpose. But it showed that some sort of dramatic importance in their performances.
Since 18th century, it is evident that three types of folk drama had been provided for amusement,
enjoyment and dramatic senses. They were the Sokari, Kolam, and Nadagam, which were at that time
very popular among the audience in villages. Among these three folk dramas, some Nadagams were
based on the stories related to the background of Buddhism. Sometimes very popular Jataka tales ,
such as; Vessantara, Maha Paduma, Sandakinduru, Maname etc. were based on those dramas and try
to depict the various virtues of Lord Buddha‘s life directly. But playwrights did not try to develop the
Buddhist concepts, describing the plot without harming the dramatic qualities. However, Nadagam
was richer in dramatic qualities than the other forms of folk drama, and it had a fixed style in acting,
which belongs to it.
By the end of the 19th century, a kind of new drama called Nurthi, which was influenced by
travelling, dramatic group of Parsi which brought to Sri-Lanka, by two dramatic groups from North
India. Nurthi was a kind of drama and established to fulfil the needs of contemporary social
necessities of the beginning of the twentieth century. Especially, playwright and the dramatist, John
de Silva, tried to express his ideas which were related to the Independent Movement against
imperialism which was prevailing at that time by using this form of drama. Some of his dramas based
on Buddhist stories, which were closely related with the Bodhisattva characters; like Sri Sangabodhi,
Jataka stories like Vessantara, Vidura, Maname etc, Some Buddhist Sutras like, Parabhawa,
Buddhist concepts like, Marananusmurthi and Surasonda. John de Siva wanted to establish the
Buddhist society and to develop the Buddhist courtesy and custom among Buddhist people in the
country, by spreading this kind of Nurthi dramas. But these dramas cannot be considered as the
vehicle for developing Buddha‘s messages to the contemporary Sinhala audience.
After Nurthi, there were Jayamanna plays and western style, Naturalistic dramas were composed
and staged. Then Prof. Ediriweera Sarachchandra, veteran scholar, University Don and playwright
understood that indigenous theatre tradition cannot be established, by writing and producing above
mentioned dramas. It was very clear to him, after the drama, Pabawathie was composed and staged.
He produced it as an experiment position by using combination of features, found in Naturalistic and
Stylistic style of drama; in the end he understood that this kind of mixture for the theatre was
completely failure.
Before performing the drama called Pabawathie, which was based on the Kusa Jataka, had been
selected from the Jataka Tale, that is a collection of past birth stories of the Lord Buddha.
Sarachchandra had composed and staged the Naturalistic Dramas called Yantam Gelauna, Bahina
Kalawa and Wandinna Giya Devale. Beside that he had joined Sinhala drama circle, as a translator
and an adaptator, for example, Kapuwakapothi, Vedahatana, the Bear, the Manager and the Proposal;
among them Kapuwakapothi can be considered as a masterpiece of Sinhala Theatre, at that time,
comparing the other plays staged, during that period. There are many reasons for it, especially major
reason is, its magnificent production, it was produced with comprehensive skills of acting. The
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success of a drama depends on the close link between the language and the theatrical experiences. The
adaptators were able to use the contemporary, middle class language successfully in dialogues. It was
through the drama Kapuwakapothi that for the first time Sinhala spectators had an opportunity to get a
certain understandings to how a drama brings forth interest and how it should be appreciated and
evaluated. But these Naturalistic dramas were lacked the dramatic experiences and a close connection
with the indigenous social background of Sri Lanka. After understanding this main weakness,
Sarachchandra paid full attention to find out the path of indigenous dramatic environment.
Meanwhile he had been awarded the Rockefeller Foundation Fellowship, gave this direct experience
with the traditional theatre of Japan; the Nohgaku and the Kabuki and some folk dramas, in which he
discovered affinities with the original Sanskrit theatre and its off spring in other countries of Asia;
including the Opera in China. In this difficult investigation, he did not get rid of Sinhala folk drama,
especially the folk like play Nadagam.
At that time Sarachchandra’s goal was established the indigenous drama tradition for achieving
the success; he paid his full attention for the plot of the stories and form of his dramas. Sinhala
ancient literature had been on the Buddhist cultural environment. The ancient Sinhala writers wrote
books in prose and verse on stories drawn from the Theravada Buddhist Literature. In writing their
literary compositions especially that in verse, they followed the poetic conventions laid down in
Siyabaslakara, adaptation of the book called Kavya Darshaya in Sanskrit by Dandin in India, which
is the earliest extant treatise on poetics. So, he had to follow that way for the establishment of the
indigenous Sinhala theatre tradition, but which was not easy to carry out; he tried to achieve it by
performing the drama called Maname, after coming back to Sri Lanka from travelling of searching the
dramatic heritage of completing his fellowship period.
Our national thought has to be established based on the Theravada Buddhism had a certain
influence in fostering literature in Sri Lanka; it did not assist in any way in the development of an art
like drama. However, Buddhism in Japan influenced the Japanese theatre to such an extent that Japan
developed a unique dramaturgy. This theatre, which is known as Nohgaku, has been flourishing in
Japan as a living theatre from 14th century. Nohgaku is highly valued as one of the greatest arts in the
world. It is a highly stylized, masked song, and dance drama, in which the beauty of voice and
movement are the highest goals.167
Noh alias Nohgaku was highly influenced by Amida Buddhism and Zen Buddhism. It can be seen
not only some of the Noh plays, but also Ze’ami‘s treatises, which were written about Nohgaku
theories in the 14th and 15th centuries. I have already discussed them, at the beginning of the thesis.
Here, I have argued that Nohgaku was highly influenced by Amida Buddhism than the Zen Buddhism.
Noh plays were written by playwrights as the combination of the Shintoism, Amida Buddhism and
Zen Buddhism. Zen Buddhism describes how one can acquire inner peace from the aesthetic aspects
of things, like the gentle breeze that blows over the mountains, the songs of birds that break the
silence of hills and dales, and from misty dawns. This concept, as well as the mystical concepts of Zen
Buddhism can be seen in Noh theatre.
Ediriweera Sarachchandra, an authority on Buddhist philosophy, was deeply influenced
by
Amida Buddhism and Zen Buddhism of the Nohgaku theatre while he was researching and watching
theatre in Japan.168
Sarachchandra was successful in creating and offering an important life experiences to modern Sri
Lankan society through the play, called Maname. His achievement lies in revealing the truthfulness of
28
human relationships and the meaning of living a virtuous life, which was centred round the core of
Buddhist philosophy.
The significant breakthrough came in 1956 in the Sri Lankan theatre, with a play called Maname,
which could be considered as a main turning point of Sinhala theatre tradition and as well as the
indigenous Sinhala stage drama. We can consider Maname as the first theatre performance of the
history of indigenous Sinhala theatre, as it highlighted a form of traditional drama. Maname was
based on the Jataka story, called Chulla Dhanuddara. The playwright paid more attention to the depth
of theme in Maname than outward appearance of audiovisual forms, as much as he identified the
dramatic qualities of the Jataka story and made some amendments to the basic story to make it more
meaningful to the human beings in society when composing the drama, Maname. He selected prince
Maname, princess Maname and the king of Veddhas as the major characters through which to depict a
meaningful interpretation on the interrelationship between the human beings. In Maname, the
playwright, instead of being confines to the traditional concept of women‘s capriciousness deeply
analyzed the nature of their mentality. He depicted the conflict among the prince Maname, the
princess Maname and the Veddha king and the conflict within the mind of the princess herself. It was
also explained that a drama should consisted of a deeper theme which should be developed under the
major thought or philosophy like Buddhism. It also demonstrated his capability in making use of the
dance and the music of the drama in an effective manner instead of keeping them just as external
elements for the amusement. The success of Maname was also caused by the lyrical quality of the
language, stage decorations and make up which were applied in an appropriate manner. Maname
could be appreciated not only in the dramatic view point but also in the literary view point due to its
theme which reveals a well developed contrast between barbarity and civility, craving and virtue,
which contributed to the success of the drama.
When we discuss the plot of the Maname in deep, we can see the tragic state the prince and the
princess Maname found them is the pathetic condition. After getting married with beautiful princess,
prince Maname wanted to go back his father‘s kingdom as soon as possible, but they have to go
through passing dangerous forest. As prince Maname is a strong youth who was well trained by sword
fighting and bow handling, so, he doesn‘t feel any danger even in the forest. However in the middle of
the forest by accidentally he has to fight with a lord of the Barbarian like Veddha king and his
followers. In the end, he had to die unfortunately because of his suspicion of his wife. This plot has
shown us human beings‘ life is uncertain and unexpected things might have been happened, and the
death has been granted as the prize. That means the playwright has to describe the depth of human
beings‘ fate according to the major doctrine of Lord Buddha‘s thought, Buddhism. The formal style of
presentation, replete with the sage-like narrator opening with homage to the Buddhist trinity and the
presence of the chorus gave the play an air of ceremony and ritual.169 We cannot forget that the play,
Maname has been composed and produced by Sarachchandra, after returning from Japan, and it was
highly influenced by Japanese Nohgaku Theatre. He once expressed it like under mentioned; ―It was
the impact of Noh and Kabuki that gave me the courage to write and produce Maname.‖170
In addition, the Japanese Nohgaku Theatre, other literary work of Japanese modern writers and
film producers were influenced to the development of Sri Lankan Modern Theatre.
Ryunosuke Akutagawa became world famous writer after the production of Rashomon by Akira
Kurosawa. This film was based on two short stories of Akutagawa, ‘Rashomon’ which was written
in 1915 and ‗in a grove‘ (Yabunonaka) which appeared on the short story collection of Rashomon in
1917.171 The film Rashomon is poles apart in the story plot, context, presentation as well as the
production. It is due to the innovative context of the Short Story, In a Grove.
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The story is developed through differing accounts and confessions made by number of characters
in front of a judge. The unique feature is that the real situation of the murder is revealed step by step.
The incidents are analyzed one by one creating horror in the minds of the reader and the real murder is
exposed at the final stage. Here the talent of the writer in climaxing the emotions of horror is apparent.
The first witness is the woodcutter claims he found the body of the victim in the forest. Here the
information given supports the fact that it is a murder.
The second witness is a Buddhist monk. He recalls seeing the victim and his wife riding a horse,
before the accident. The Buddhist philosophy on human life is very well depicted by the words of the
priest.
―Truly human life is as evanescent as the morning dew or a flash of lighting.‖172
The third witness is a security officer. He is the one has taken the well known bandit who had
fallen off his horse, in custody. The bows and arrows that was him are believed to be robbed from the
victim. It is obvious that he is a bandit as well as a dangerous murderer.
The forth witness is the old mother in law of Takehiro, the victim. She says that Takehiro is a very
pleasant young man of about 25years and that he is an aristocrat by birth. According to her, the day
before he had left for his home village with his wife Masago.
By taking the narratives of the witness the way the murder has done and the real murder is not
revealed. However, it provides the background information that Takehiro was murdered. Horror is
comes into the storyline with the confession of Tajomaru, the bandit. He witnesses that the victim was
murdered by him, and he did not kill the wife of Takehiro. Tajomaru says that it is very common to
murder to fulfil needs. Also he says that he is not the only one who goes around taking the lives of
people. By this he blames the law as well as the legal system.
Tajomaru is deeply desired by very beautiful wife of Takehiro. Killing somebody in order to get
what he wants is a normal deed for him. He acts tactically and gets the husband into the forest while
letting the wife wait on the horse. Tajomaru lured him to the forest by saying that he got some swords
and mirrors for cheap bargain. Takehiro goes into the forest by believing his words. Later he ties up
the Takehiro to a tree and tricks his wife into the forest by saying that her husband is stunk by a
serpent. While she is accompanied with him, she has been then raped by him before her husband‘s
eyes. She says; she cannot live with two persons who had sexual connection with her, and asks him,
one of them should be died; remainder might become her husband in the future. Tajomaru wants to
live furthermore and Takehiro is murdered by him after the terrible sword fight because of Masago‘s
unkind request. The reader is really amazed to find out that Masago persuaded him to kill her husband,
even though the bandit did not want to do it.
Thus the wife is responsible for the murder of Takehiro. She asked the bandit to kill her husband
indirectly. The case becomes more and more complicated after this. According to Tajomaru, Takehiro
dies after a tough sword fight with him. Both of them seem to be good fighters. It has been said that
Masago had fled while the fight was ingoing.
However the confession that is presented after the confession of Tajomaru is contradictory.
According to her, Tajomaru has raped her and being despoiled in front of her husband was a mental
huge blow for her.
30
Now as she knows that her husband loathes her. She thought of stabbing him with dagger and
killing herself afterwards. She stabs her husband to death with the dagger. However, she did not kill
herself. The writer has succeeded in trying to show that she has been acting in some kind of mental
depression. The reader is confused by the confessions of Tajomaru and Masago. The real murderer is
not yet identified. Both of them admit the murder.
The plot of the story which has folded realistic so far enters the realm of myth with the confession
of the spirit of the dead man. This is thought to be used as a ploy to reveal the true murderer. This
feature is also seen in the short story Snow Coat by Nicolai Gogol. According to the confession of the
spirit Tajomaru has tried to make Masago his wife by despoiling her. Moreover according to what the
spirit say Takehiro who is deeply wounded mentally by the actions of his wife stabs himself to death
with a dagger. Takehiro has killed himself. However, his wife is responsible for his death. Now the
conflict of the murderer is solved and the true murderer is revealed.
It seems that the characters and the plot of Maname has been influenced by the plot of In a Grove.
The story ‗In a Grove’ is based on the characters of Takehiro, Masago and Tajomaru. Takehiro faces
unexpected tragedy when he was travelling through forest with his newly married wife. The tragedy
faced by the Prince Maname recalls the plot of Akutagawa‘s story. Both of the characters are faced by
similar misfortunes. Takehiro kills himself because of the behaviour of his wife. Prince Maname is
faced by unforeseen tragedy because of the action of the princess. Even though Tajomaru is an
untamed man he was aware of good and bad. Similarly the Veddha king in Maname was attracted by
the young wife of Prince Maname, though he refused to take someone who had betrayed her husband,
as a wife. Accordingly it is clear that Maname based on Chulla Dhanuddara Jataka tale was very
well influenced by two short stories; ‗Rashomon‘ and ‗In a Grove.‘ that were the base for the film
Rashomon.
When we comparing both the film Rashomon and the play Maname, we can understand that the
both of them are revealing the uncertainty of human beings in this world is always suffering from
sadness. By using this kind of way, Sarachchandra also try to express his Buddhist concepts through
his plays after his masterpiece of Maname.
Shall we again look into the controversial incidents of the play Maname? At the beginning of the
prince Maname‘s killing, princess Maname accused of the Veddha king, but later the event, the
princess tells the Veddha king that she saved the Veddha king‘s life as she fell in love with him when
he fought valorously. But the Veddha king shows surprise and says, ‗I do not understand you beloved.
I defeated him by my own prowess, not by your aid. I saw you prepare to give the sword which he
demanded to slay Me.‘173
Using some kind of dialogue, Sarachchandra intentionally allows for the play to be interpreted in
terms of Buddhist philosophy and psychology as well as modern psychology.174
‗In the original Jataka, the story of a woman‘s unfaithfulness to her husband, bringing in
consequence her own destruction, is for all its Buddhist garb, a theme which is more Indian and
Hindu- a theme which would couple well with the advocacy of Sati Pooja, the custom which requires
the wife to sacrifice herself on the husband pyre.‘175
The Critic, Professor of philosophy Prof R.D. Gunaratne, who has been describing this
furthermore, expressed the under mentioned ideas.
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―By making the queen only hesitate, Sarachchandra psychologises.His own interpretation is that
the forest brings fear to the queen‘s mind and that she, for a moment, feels a sense of security in the
Veddha king, which prompted her hesitation. Sarachchandra conveys this idea in the lines;
‘Giyaa Veddho-noma viddoo...‘
(Veddha went- did not bore)
One can give other interpretation for the queen‘s hesitation, but the important point for us here is
that Sarachchandra makes the fast changing nature of mental phenomena, emphasized in Buddhism, a
reality in the play……..
…Buddhism wants to discipline one‘s, mind, but Buddhism recognizes that mind is the fastest
changing phenomena in the world. Sarachchandra injected the Buddhist philosophy of flux and the
Buddhist psychology of momentousness into his Maname, in making the queen hesitate. Hesitation
here is only momentary. The queen‘s hesitations is ‗infectious‘ for the prince is mentally shaken,
again momentarily, bringing in the final event, death to both of them.‖176
‗By leaving the interpretation, and thereby the psychological truth open, Sarachchandra is also
raising another philosophical issue of reality and illusion. In Maname, unlike in Rashomon, there is no
doubt as to what as well as how it happened physically. Tragedy of two deaths and how they
occurred are fixed. But the mental phenomena, the way of the phenomena is illusive and obscure,
along with truth. The creation of this physical reality-the death is dependent on the mental events; the
mental events in the Veddha king, in prince Maname, and even more, in the queen. If the mental
events were different, the physical event would be different. ‘Mano Pubbangama Damma’,
Sarachchandra goes thus far. That is the Theravadic reality.‘177
The film, Rashomon, deals with the relation between reality and illusion of extreme level. The
physical reality there- the happenings in the forest- are themselves different in the versions of the four
narrators. Physical reality is created by the different narrators, the different minds- and hence is mind
made illusion. Donald Richie wrote;
―Rashomon is like a vast distorting mirror, or better, a collection of prisms that reflect and refract
reality. Such reflections-not by mirrors but by jewelled mansions reflecting and telescoping the
Buddha fields extending to infinity is common in Mahayana Sutras like the Vimalakirthi Nirdesa or
Avatamsaka. Richie continued…‖ Kurosawa‘s central theme; the world is illusion, you, yourself make
reality…178
…‖.Akutagawa is content to question all moral values, all truth. Kurosawa, obviously, is not. Neither
anarchist nor misanthrope, he insists upon hope, upon the possibility of gratuitous action. Like the
priest he cannot believe that men are evil-and, indeed, if Kurosawa has a spokesman in the film it is
probably the priest: weak, confused, but ultimately trusting.‖
While writing plays, after Maname Sarachchandra believed in humanity and human creativity
based on a culture with spiritual trappings. We can identify that Sarachchandra,s major plays,
including Maname, carry a sense of dukka (grief, suffering) of Buddhist concept, tragedy in them,
compensated by evolving senses of karuna- compassionate understanding.179
After the masterpiece of Maname Sarachchandra composed and produced two plays; Rattaran and
Kadawalalu; which were staged by using the method of stylization. It has been considered as the form
of Indigenous dramaturgy. Sarachchandra used prose dialogue, songs, music, dance and stylized
32
costumes. Both used Jataka stories as the material for construction of the plot. However, the main
theme of both these plays seemed to centre round that of Revenge. Bundula Jayawardena, famous
scholar of drama, explained it furthermore;
―Rattaran
left the spectator in an eerie mood after the grotesque burning of the daughter-in-law by
the mother-in-law who by some chance of fortune had escaped the gruesome death that the former
had contrived on her, while the Kadawalalu dealt with the innocent psychology of a child involved in
the commercial rivalry of two merchants, one honest and the other cunning. This short piece was
lyrical and tender.180‖
When he staged the play Kadawalalu, he used the main part of the Kabuki stage called,
Hanamichi. Hanamichi which is peculiar to the Kabuki stage since 17th century is a passage leading to
the stage through the left section of the theatre. The passage of the actors on to the stage over the
Hanamichi is called de (advance) and the passage back from the stage to the exit screened with a
small curtain termed agemaku is called hikkami. Using of the Hanamichi is considered to give a
histrionic effect.181 Kabuki drama reveals the characteristics of Naturalistic drama to a great extent. It
has Stylistic drama features as in use of the Hanamichi. Sarachchandra used a stage with Hanamichi,
in the end of the drama Kadawalalu,182 which was based on the Serivanija Jataka story, one of the
main characters, Kachchaputa, ran along this Hanamichi into the auditorium and made his exit from
the left of the stage. Serivanija, another character begins to chase him through the same exit. The last
conversation between them also takes place there. At the beginning, I mentioned that the Revenge,
one of the main human being‘s features was centred on above mentioned two dramas. Through that
theme Sarachchandra tried to get rid of it from our mind and developed the compassion on behalf of
it and, live according to it for the life time is appreciated. Revenge is the endless act and we should
stop it forever. This can be considered important Buddhist concept and every human being should
obey it, as a devotee.
The play, Elova Gihin Melowa Awa (1959), Hasthikantha Manthare (1959) and Vella Vahum
(1960) were written and staged by Sarachchandra later. The drama, Elova Gihin Melowa Awa,
discusses the worth of humanity in Buddhist view point. It means that the human beings cling to their
own desires even for momentary self amusement. Ekata Mata Hina Hina, which was staged in 1961,
was based on Kalagola story of Jataka Tale, Ummagga. It presents a conflict when two contrasting
work together. This play, giving an interesting twist to the traditional tale in the outburst of relief
which the jilted hero expresses in the end, reconciling himself to the elopement of his wife with her
chosen paramour, despite the Bodhisattvas verdict in his favour,183 at that time, theatre activity was
going on at the Peradeniya University. Sarachchandra wrote and produced another play, based on the
Mahasara Jataka story again by using the stylization, and it was named Hasthikantha Mantare. This
drama also can be considered a kind of vehicle of revealing the deep Buddhist concept of stealing,
which describes with some comic satire.
Sinhabahu, which composed and staged in 1962 is the most successful drama during the period. It
clearly depicted Sarachchandra‘s view towards life through this drama; which was based on the story
of genesis of the Sinhalese which comes in the chronicle called Mahavamsa. The conflict between the
major characters of the drama, Sinhaya, Suppa Devi and Sinhabahu conveys vital message to the
contemporary social life. The inevitable consequences of the generation gap were discussed in the
drama. Therefore, its theme was broader and contemporary than that of Maname. It was due to the
fact that Sinhabahu lacked much of dramatic elements and connection that found in Maname.
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It is clear that, although the story of this play is not taken from Buddhist literature, the theme of
parental love, in the form that is developed in the play, had been suggested to Sarachchandra by
passage in the Vinaya Pitaka (the collection of discipline for Buddhist monks).184 Although
Sinhabahu is not based on the story related Buddhism directly, it‘s theme is developed, concerning on
the Buddhist concepts subtly re-worked are among the animating themes of Sarachchandra‘s dramas;
conflict between two generations, and at another explores the contrasts of savage and civilized life.185
The translator of Sinhabahu, into English Dr. Lakshmi De Silva expressed her idea on the Preface
of the book as follows;
―I have heard the author state, however, that the theme of the play is the conflict between love and
duty. As a creator and critic, he was as alive to the demands of the dramatic form as to the feeling
which inspired him, and a close reading of the text confirms his statement. Two words are consistently
foregrounded in the text; one, strongly highlighted in the lyrics sung by Suppa Devi is love; the other,
more evenly distributed, is yuthu, a word which conveys a sense of moral compulsion hardly
conveyed by the feeble should or ought .Suppa Devi and Sinhabahu are both caught in the tragic trap.
The lion, an intensely moving figure limited to instinctual love is a victim of this conflict. Suppa
Devi,who celebrates the all-fulfilling power of love is compelled to leave the mate for whom she
sacrificed all lesser joys because she is a mother and must therefore follow a path that benefits her
children, as the author points out in his preface to the first edition of the play‖.
In this drama, two main characters, one of them is Sinhaya, other is Sinhabahu, who entered the
capital of the kingdom with his mother and sister, by breaking the all barriers he had to face. Then
lion (Sinhaya) is shocked and wants to find out his beloved family members. He thinks that he has a
right to go in search of his wife and children. Sinhabahu also thinks that it is right to kill a lion
(Sinhaya), who is destroying human life. In the end of the drama, dramatist emphasises the nature of
human love based on the Buddhist concepts.
Chorus;
That dread Lion, wild with pain
Of love in severance,
Saw his son‘s face like the moon
Over the dark trees rising
And his mind like white night-bloom flowered
In radiance.
The arrow sped and fell,
But by the power of love
Grazed neither fell nor flesh;
Love of a son goes deep
Piercing skin, flesh and nerve,
Seeking the bone,
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Cleaving deep to the marrow,
It gives incessant sorrow.
Last song of the Chorus also emphasise the love related father is thicker than the love of son.
Chorus;
Love of a son goes deep
Driven through a father‘s heart
In a son‘s it does not cleave
Through riven bone and marrow
Giving incessant sorrow.
One critic has expressed his views, emerging questions like this;
―Why is the lion destroying human life? He understood that human beings are obstructing,
according to his search, preventing his movements. Why are people obstructing the lion (Sinhaya)?
Through ignorance and prejudice might be affected. They are ignorant of his search, his motives.
They are prejudiced against him because he is a lion, he is dangerous. Reality is now created; men are
killed, lion is killed; by ignorance due to illusion. In so far as reality is created by illusion, how far are
our acts going to be right or wrong?‖186
In the meanwhile Sarachchandra’s follower, young dramatist, Dayananda Gunawardhana who has
got reputation by staging Naribena during the period of late 1950s, composed and produced the play called
Gajaman Puwata, which has been influenced by Noh play, Komachi by Kan’ami Kiyotsugu. Komachi,
very beautiful lady and poetess, lived at the Heian court during the ninth century. She became a legend in
later times, with many apocryphal stories surrounding the few known biographical facts. Five Noh plays
are being performed on Komachi in the present repertory. They are; Komachi and the Hundred Nights,
Sotoba Komachi, Kayoi Komachi and Komachi at Sekidera etc. The ancient name of Kayoi Komachi was
Shii no Shosho. Komachi is centred on the poetess of that name whose vanished beauty baffles the
Buddhist monks who find her seated on a stupa, wrinkled and mad with old age.
The legend of Komachi is that she had many lovers when she was young, but was cruel and
mocked at their pain. Among them was one, Shii no Shosho, who came a long way to court her. She
told him that she would not listen to him till he had come on a hundred nights from his house to her
house and cut a hundred notches on the shaft-bench of his chariot. And so he came a hundred nights
all but one, through rain, hail, snow, and wind. In the end, at last night he died.
Once when she was young, the famous poet Yasuhide asked her to go with him to Mikawa. She
answered it with the poem;
―I that am lonely,
Like a reed root-cut,
Should a stream entice me,
Would go, I think.‖
35
When she became old, both her friends and her wits forsook her. She wandered about in
destitution, a tattered, crazy beggar woman. According to the play, her madness was a possession by
the spirit of the lover whom she had tormented. She was released from this possession by the virtue of
a sacred Stupa. In the dialogue between Komachi and the priests, she upholds the doctrines of the Zen
Sect, which uses neither scriptures nor idols; defend the doctrines of the Shingon Sect of Buddhism. It
promises salvation by the use of incantation and the worship of holy images. In this drama, Shosho is
the main character who represents the shite, and Komachi is the tsure or subordinate character.
Gunawardhana also composed a similar story, based on the famous poetess in Mahanuwara era in
Sri Lanaka, her name was Gajaman Nona, beautiful lady, keeping connection with various people
who were represented the high social standard in the country at that time, and some are very famous
historical characters. Komachi, poetess in the play, understood the uselessness of this physical world
and tried to find out the truth for minimise the sadness and follow the way of Buddhism for salvation,
in the end. But Gunawardhana‘s Gajaman Puwata was not forwarded to the that direction, however,
he also tried to show us the result of unethical love affairs with the paramour would be a terrible grief
when the person became an older; who was suffering from loneliness forever. Thus any critic can
expressed that Gajaman Puwata also is the drama, which depicts the truth of human life in certain
extent, selecting and staging in dramatically, the important stages of person life. Bandula
Jayawardhana has criticized this drama and states;
―Actually Gunawardhana makes of Gajaman Nona, a lady of Great charm, beautiful, intelligent,
talented and dignified even in her many love relations. She is a match to every one of her lovers,
monks and peasant and governors. He tries to fill into his narrative as many of the verses attributed to
her and her contemporaries, friends and rivals and cleverly manages to do so more often than not. The
play has epic and episode characteristics, but it is still not a unified dramatic experience and the
grandiose structure is too large to house the thin but poetic theme. The climax, in particular, with the
lonely lady, withered her looks, living in a repentant dreams, forsaken and forgotten, poor and
pathetic, lovers around the spirit of a tragedy, but fails to arrive at the tragic moment and fizzles out
into vague whimpering and a cloudy picture is all that the spectator carries home after a sit through of
almost two hours and half an hours.‖187
Gajaman Puwata can be considered as a kind of documentary drama. This style of plays were
written and staged in England too. Director of Victoria theatre in the city of Stork on Trent in England,
Peter Chiesmond was the originator of the documentary drama which could explain the personal
experiences without any limits. For example; Dear Liar which was written by using the letters
exchanging between Bernard Show and Lady Camble by the other dramatist, belonged to the style of
documentary drama which had influenced to Gunawardhana too. However, Gajaman Puwata was
very much similar to Kan’ami‘s Komachi series of Noh. Life problems and other difficulties of the
contemporary society had been discussed through the characters and incidents of the play of Gajaman
Puwata.
Sarachchandra composed and staged another important play, Pematho Jayathi Soko (Love
Begets Sorrow),188 with the University Sinhala Drama circle in 1969. It can be considered as a kind of
Opera in Sinhala stage, first time. He draws the story again from Buddhist Literature, Swarnatilaka
Wastuwa (story) from Saddharmalankaraya, which was written in Gampola Era, in the 15th century.
Play is developed by centering two main characters, Uddala, the Brahman teacher of old, and
Swarnatilaka, beauty of beauties. At the beginning, we can see the Uddala as a person whom women
are anathema. If he accidentally sees the woman, and feared prolusion so much so that he cleans
himself with water at the sight of them. Very beautiful damsel, Swarnatilaka accompanied by her
36
musician father, enters the castle of Uddala and when Uddala seeing her by accident, he gets mad and
wants to get married with her as a wife even if she is an outcast woman. He forgets his past way of
thinking, for months continuously, and he is unable to separate from her presence even temporarily.
He forgets to attend to his duties, especially teaching to the intimate students in his own school. Some
students are the sons or relatives of the kings of other countries. They are waiting for him for long
time, but he doesn‘t care of his duty. His students think that she is an illusory beauty and plan to get
her killed in order to save their teacher. But, because of Swarnatilaka’s death, he cant‘s bare up and
he is unconscious and decides to commit suicide in her pyre. When we looked into the story of the
play, in deep, we could see that Uddala was living with an illusion. Although the Swarnatilaka is a
beauty of beauties, she is a simple young woman. More importantly, the world, which includes
Uddala as well as Swarnatilaka, is a place of strife and evanescence, a place of impermanence,
(anicca) and uncertain. Prof. R. D. Gunaratne, professor of Philosophy, expressed his views on;
―An everlasting ideal is an illusion, and hence has no reality, if only for the simple reason that it
contradicts the principle of impermanence (anicca).
Human beings are living in illusion, whether the illusions are ideal or not, for reality itself has so
much illusion in it. Although Sarachchandra was primarily an artist in his creative work, it is my
surmise that the philosopher who researched into the Buddhist psychology of perception and the
yogacara idealism has rarely been for away from Sarachchandra‘s study and the workshop.‖189
Critic, Bandula Jayawardhana says; ―The play begins at the point nearest its dramatic climax, and is
reminiscent of Greek tragedy, is charged with resonant Pali stanzas of philosophical import and
contains perhaps some of the richest poetry that appeared on the Sinhala stage.‖190
The vision of life revealed in the drama, Pematho Jayati Soko, is similar to that of Noh theatre.
This drama eloquently shows us that the happiness and comports that one enjoys in life are not
permanent. The only solution to the problems of life is to minimise desire, to put an end to rebirth.
One must attain the state of emancipation and the only way to fulfil this aspiration is to take refuge in
Lord Buddha. The plays, based on the theme were composed and performed on the Noh stage. 191
We can examine the two plays, Sumida River and Dojo Temple* as further example of how Buddhist
ideas of life and death were incorporated into Noh theatre. In Sumida River, the mother going in
search of her lost son while crossing the river Sumida in a boat thinks of her son and pours forth her
feelings of sorrow in verse. The boatman surprised by such powerful use of words; questions her as to
how she acquired that knowledge. Then she replied in sorrowful feelings.
Mother:
For many years I lived
In Miyako, at Kita-Shirakawa
Then suddenly I lost my only child,
Kidnapped by a slaver.
They told me he was taken
Beyond the Osaka barrier
*I have already discussed these two plays under sub topic Amida Buddhism and Zen Buddhism
and Noh Scripts
37
Eastwards, to far-off Azuma,
Since when with mind distraught
I wander on my desperate quest,
Torn by longing my boy.
Chorus:
―Though he be a thousand miles away
Tis said- a mother ne‘er forgets her child,
And yet the bond of parenthood
Cannot survive the grave
Cannot survive the grave
Ah! Woe is me
Like the ―four young birds that left their nest.‖
Will my weary quest end here?
Now I have reached the Sumida
Now I have reached the Sumida
That flows between Musashi and Shimosa. (T.N.D. pp. 150,151)
Ferryman:
How like a woman of Miyako to use such elegant language!
Mother:
Your words remind me of the poem Narihira once composed at this very spot.
―O, birds of Miyako,
If you are worthy of your name,
Tell me, does my love still live?‖
O, boatman, yonder is a white bird not found in Miyako. What is its name? (151-152)
The mother‘s grief felt from the loss of her son is presented as an address to the oystercatcher
(Miyakodori). Again the lamentation of a mother who comes to know about her son‘s death is made
use of by Kanze Juro Motomasa
in ageuta to reveal the elementary concepts of Buddhism
uncertainty and grief.
38
At the end of the play, the playwright thinks of the Amithabha Buddha whom the Amithabha
Nichiren sect pay obeisance to and turns the attention to taking refuge in Lord Buddha as it is the only
way to free oneself from sorrows and regrets of this world.
Ferryman and Mother:
Adoration to countless million Buddhas
Each one Amida
In the Western Paradise,
The world of supreme bliss!
Chorus:
Namu Amida! Namu Amida!
Namu Amida! Namu Amida!
Mother:
From the Sumida
Join in the voices
Of the breeze and waves.
Chorus:
Namu Amida! Namu Amida!
Namu Amida!
Mother:
True to their name
Miyako-birds join the choir. (T.N.D. p.158)
Like Sanskrit dramaturgy, the Noh theatre indicates a change of place by having the actor walk a
full circle or by having him take a few steps. Actions like travelling in vehicles, pouring water to the
flowerbed and picking flowers are mimicked by dancing as in Chinese operas. Sarachchandra‘s
Maname and later plays have been greatly influenced by Noh plays like Sumida River and Dojo
Temple. Like Noh dramas, Sarachchandra too has used a poetic, dramatic language in composing his
plays. The dramas Maname and Sinhabahu were success because of its skilful blending of poetic
language and dramatic features. We can compare some above mentioned poetical passages with the
passages in verse composed by Sarachchandra when he writes Maname, Sinhabahu and Pemato
Jayathi Soko. For example, read the under mentioned poetical and lyrical passages drawn from the
play, Sinhabahu.
Lion:
The cave is shattered
The den-door agape.
Sinhaba-Sinhaba- Sinhaba!
My love, my love, my love!
39
Sinhasivali, my precious daughterTha cave is shattered
The den-door agape.
All are gone
There is no one.
I guessed itI doubted
Sinhaba, Sinhaba, Sinhaba!
They are not in the den.
They will not come again
I guessed it –I doubted
My tender daughter
With caressing words
Comforted me, cooked for me,
Fed me, cared for me, feared for me,
Would ask, would seek
To find if pain
Toughed me in the wilds.
She too is gone.
Why little daughter, it his order
Why did you not stay?
Your brother is reckless
Not tender like you.
Was it his order
That you obeyed? ( Sinhabahu pp.24,25.)
These passages are full of feelings and emotions of father who has been suffering without his
beloved wife, daughter and son whom have lived with him for long time cannot bare up this kind of
40
sadness because of the dramatist grasps the essence of poetical language which originally written in
Sinhala language in deep. In this play, the poetic style has gained predominance over the dramatic
features, because the playwright had turned his complete attention mainly toward the use od words to
depict subtle and emotional feelings. The Noh theatre frequently uses verse and songs to reveal the
feelings of a person.
There were also other plays produced in the 1980s that we should pay attention to. Vessantara
and Lomahansa are the two plays which were composed and staged by Sarachchandra, Buddhist
cultural virtuous are based. The play, Vessantara, which was produced in 1980, was based on the
most famous Jataka story known by that name among Sri Lankan Buddhists. This kind of Jataka
Story, which is relevant for today, and hopes to highlight the important traditional values depicted in
the self sacrifice of the king, Vessantara. He has given away the rain making white elephant of his
own kingdom. Instead, king Vessantara donated all his property, his beloved children and wife to
fulfil the duty of almsgiving. But in the drama, the king was shocked and became anxious seeing the
people and their problems of living. Then he opened the doors of the treasury for the people and they
took away the money, clothes and other things, they needed. But their problems were not solved.
After a short period, they fill into the same old state of life.
In composing this drama, Sarachchandra attempted to show the importance of altruism, much
needed today, and to disregard egoism.192 His generosity as well as his philanthropic nature has been
given prominence in this performance. He has endeavoured to show that it is a quality inherent in
humanity. Sarachchandra apparently expected, by holding up these values, to contrast them with the
growing money-values and egotism of a competitive modern society.193
The spectators who viewed Vessantara as a drama, staged by John de Silva, in Nurthi Era, being
performed were shocked and became anxious. But those who viewed Sarachchandra’s Vessantara
drama did not feel anxious or get a shock. A narrative becomes a drama defending on the way; it is
performed, developed gradually and dramatized in stages fit for a drama. But in the drama,
Vessanatara, produced by Sarachchandra, the scene Brahmin Jutaka meets the king is the only
incident where a style appears. Even the conflict between them and the conflict within the king
Vessantara himself was not built up properly.
According to the Vessantara Jataka Story which was appeared on the book, named Buthsarana,
ancient classical prose, written in the 13th century by Vidyachakrawarthi also, queen Mandri had a
very strong character. Because of the above mentioned two prose and the poetry on Vessantara Jataka
Tale, she was a symbol of dignified mother hood; and her fidelity was incomparable, her love for her
children was unlimited. But in the drama, Sarachchandra’s version, her character has not been treated
properly. There is no liveliness in it, and queen Mandri’s character has been treated as a kind of flat
character. This is not successful as a drama, because lack of concentration in his intellect as a
playwright, is shown through his drama. The scene of giving away of the Brahmin Jutaka, the queen‘s
arrival at the hermitage from the forest and the queen‘s presence before king Vessantara, are all
occasions to give a deep emotional shock to the spectators. But in this drama, all these are depicted in
a very feeble manner.194
Though Sarachchandra’s Vessantara is not so successful, it is affected to the modern Sri Lankan
society greatly, because he endeavoured to depict the Buddhist discipline, ethics and virtuous through
this drama...
41
Appreciating Sarachchandra’s work, Bandula Jayawardhana expressed his ideas like this;
―Here Sarachchandra was apparently falling between two stools, by trying to adhere to the
traditional image of the unmoved sage and to emphasize the greatness of his sacrifice. Nor was the
author‘s aim made clear that it was not Vessantara’s vanity submitting to flatterer rather than selfless
love of humanity that makes him sacrifice. The ancient idea of detachment and charity are mixed up
with modern ones of welfares and distributive justice. Vessantara, leaving his palace to see the city, is
decoyed by a divinity into the slums of the city where he sees the poverty; want and suffering. He
impulsively scatters his purse but soon realizing the futility of his action resolves to end human
suffering by seeking Buddha hood, by which alone, he can truly save. Meantime his ministers,
concerned with the plight of the national treasury which is threatened by Vessantara‘s liberality
appeals to the ex-monarch, his father, who has to agree to send away his son.‖195
In Theravada Buddhist motherhood is highly valued and appreciated, it is clear that mother is
called Buddha at home, this is because The Lord Buddha, also, has gone to heaven, then mother is
borned after death as a goddess there, for being grateful to her, after becoming the Buddha. So,
Sarachchandra wanted to convince it by making a drama, based on contemporary experiences. As a
result of that endeavour, in 1985, Kirimuttiya Gange Giya, which was a Naturalistic drama was
composed and staged by Sarachchandra. It is about a family which breaks up as a result of the mother
flying Middle East for the purpose of future betterment of the life. The begging of the drama as well
as representation of some centralizes scenes bound with the progression of the drama seemed
unnatural.
Weak points found in the scrip had caused to weaken the artistic quality as well as to reduce the
worth of the drama. The dramatist was unable to avoid the defects of the script because the production is
weaker too. It was clearly depicted through the characters of the drama due to the fact that the unity of a
rural family and the interrelationship among the family members were not exposed either through
characters or scenes.
The play, Lomahansa,196 composed and staged by Sarachchandra, in 1985, it was derived from
the story of Maha Paduma, taken from Jataka stories.197 Its theme the desire of a woman (queen) for the
son of her husband (king) by another woman (queen) has been dramatized in so many western plays. In the
development of the theme of Lomahansa, Sarachchandra draws from Greek play, Euripides‘ play making
some addition to the Jataka Story in the process.
The dramatic events are centred on the three characters, king Brahmadatta, his second wife and
the son born of his first wife. Once when the king was out of the royal palace, went for fighting against the
rebellions that were attacking the provinces, belong to Brahmadatta, the young king tried to induce the
prince for an illicit relationship. Since her attempt failed, she aspersed on the prince. When the king
returned she misled the king poisons the mind of the king, with false tales against the prince only because
of fear and shame. Being displeased, the king believed the words of the young queen and had his son killed.
Agitated by the death of the prince, the young queen, who knew that imagined false told by her, highly
repented and finally decided to committed suicide. Through this drama, Sarachchandra directs our
attention towards the woman‘s temperament. It can be mentioned that the other subordinate characters i.e.
king and the prince were used to bring out this message. The queen‘s character had been developed
According to the principles of the Buddhist concepts on the psychology. It also evidently depicts that
defilements of the human beings drag them towards the destruction; if I use other words, it has been
dramatized to show how man undergoes various disasters; because of lust and passion (evil desire).
42
By forwarding his ideas, Prof. R.D. Gunaratne expresses;
― The reconstruction not only draws from world literature, it also presents a more human, complex
young woman comprehensible in terms of modern psychology, and the idea that samsara, or the flow of
phenomena overtakes the normal individuals and makes them all victims of nothing. The queen talks to the
prince in order pacify and cure her- but are momentarily overcome by passion as she sees him and tries to
molest him. The rejection of love leads to a wrathful and cruel accusation, a somersault, and finally to
crash in suicide. Mental phenomena are momentary, fast changing and unpredictable. The flow of
phenomena overtakes you‖ 198
Bhawakadaturawa could be considered Sarachchandra‘s final significant drama, which was
composed and first staged in 1990. This was also based on the Jataka Story, Swarna Hansa, very popular
among Buddhist devotees. It describes the lost chance that was to be obtained the golden leaves due to the
excessive avarice. It discusses how the excessive avarice causes for the destruction of the human beings.
However, without being confined to the role of adviser, the dramatist‘s effort to depict a humanitarian
issue in a deep and complex manner was successful. It is also admirable the way he has presented the
behaviour of the Brahmin women.
Most of the dramas of Sarachchandra performed since Maname were works based on stylistic drama
as seen in the Japanese theatre. The influenced of the Noh drama motivated Sarachchandra to create plays
including ‗Maname‘. Consequently, there is a prominence of stylistic dramatic features in Sinhala
indigenous dramaturgy. The stylistic dramatic features found mostly in the dramas Maname, Sinhabahu,
Pemato Jayati Soko, Vessantara, Lomahansa and Bhawakadaturawa indicate the influence gained from
the Noh drama rather than those from Sanskrit and local folk dramas. The narrative as well As the style of
performance in the Noh theatre is very simple. There is no use of curtains. There are very few stage
instruments used. Symbolizing feelings through mime is a traditional feature of this type of plays.
The influence of the Noh stage can also be seen in Sarachchandra‘s dramas, to a certain extent. On a
bare stage made of polished cypress wood, the actors sometimes limited to about two or three, dramatize a
narrative. There is no background scenery either. In the performance of the dramas Maname, Sinhabahu,
and Pemato Jayati Soko the simple scenery is reminiscent of the Noh theatre. The Noh stage is open to the
auditorium on three sides. However, Sarachchandra‘s dramas were performed on a Picture Frame Stage
on many occasions. Sarachchandra was similarly influenced by the Noh theatre in the organization of
the chorus and orchestra. Usually the chorus (Jiutai) in a Noh drama consists of about six to twelve singers.
Sarachchandra has also followed the style of Noh play in the makeup and costumes of his plays. He
makes a candid statement on this about costumes of the drama Vessantara.
―The production was in the stylized form. It was influenced to a great extent by the colours and
designs of ancient frescoes. Since stage lighting was not used, I made an effort to compensate for this lack
by using extremely colourful and cheap-looking costumes for the female characters. This was an idea from
Japanese Noh theatre.‖ (Sarasaviya 1980)
Furthermore, makeup and costumes in Kabuki dramas, which help to reveal emotions or feelings,
have influenced Sarachchandra’s plays in certain extent. In Kabuki the term for normal makeup is called
keshou , while kumadori refers to the specialist makeup employed for aragoto roles. Makeup styles are
very wide-ranging, and vary from the realistic to the extraordinary and exaggerated. As one might expect,
the more realistic styles are to be found in modern works. Pure white skin has traditionally been a sign of
refinement and social status in Japan, the logical reason being that aristocrats do not work out in the sun
43
and do not get tanned. White is also associated with purity, and so many heroes and heroines, even in more
realistic plays, have a general base makeup of pure white.
Kumadori is the most distinctive makeup style and was possibly invented by Ichikawa Danjuro 1 for
his rough (aragoto) style characters. Kumadori is applied over a base of white or pink and uses bold lines
of red, blue, or brown, with some black. The purpose of the lines is to exaggerate the facial muscles that
make general expressions more clearly defined. The sharp lines are applied with a brush and then the actor
deliberately smudges them with his finger to blend them into the base colour. This makes for a more
‗realistic‘ line, which is said to resemble the veins. The red colour is employed by heroes looks like a flush
of righteous indignation, while the villainous blue makes the character seem cold-blooded. Sarachchandra
also used the style of Kumadori which was not so familiar to Sri Lankan audience, when he staged the
plays Maname and Sinhabahu but somewhat close to. This can be seen in the makeup of the Veddha king,
other Veddhas (uncivilized people) in the play Maname and the characters of Sinhaya (lion) and Sinhabahu
in the drama Sinhabahu.
Besides that, acting style which was peculiar to the folk drama Kagura which was originated in the
6 century, could be seen even now everywhere in Japan, also influenced to the character of Sinhaya (lion)
when Sinhabahu staged in 1960s. There is a character, lion (Shishi) in Kagura when it performs, at the
beginning lion enters to the stage for special dance which is called lion dance (Shishimai) later join many
lions for that special dancing. It‘s moving and gestures vivid and interesting, I am highly impressed seeing
it and emerge my memory and compare the acting of Sinhaya (lion) in the play Sinhabahu. Moving
gestures of Sinhaya in the play Kagura and the same gestures in Sinhaya in the Sinhabahu are almost
similar, no difference.
th
At the beginning of the 21st century, some young dramatists, most of them of the academics of
Kelaniya University performed some comic interludes, Kyogen plays on stage as translations or
adaptations. Ajith Premakumara Murage performed the famous play, Yuzuru on Sri Lankan stage in 1998,
original play written by Kinoshita Junji as a translation and helped to understand the nature of Kyogen
plays for the audience. In 2003 Hemantha Prasad staged the play Rashomon an interpretation of Kurosawa
Akira’s Rashomon, the film which was the masterpiece of the world in 1951. Although the producer, Daiei
was not agreed to forward it to Venice film festival, the desire of the organizer of the festival it was
presented and at the end, as the result it won first prize. Its winning what was then the best of cinema prize
came as a profound shock to Japan, because Japanese film critics considered Rashomon as an unfinished
production. In the same time, it was considered as the masterpiece among Kurosawa’s other films. It is
based on Ryunosuke Akutagawa’s two short stories, Rashomon and ‗In a Grove‘ which gives the film its
plot, or plots. However, Hemantha‘s interpretation cannot be considered as a successful encouragement; it
was a failure. Even Priyankara Rathnayaka, young dramatist and an actor, also performed Rashomon as an
interpretation but it was also not a successful play. Tumindu Dodantenna, actor and young dramatist staged
a famous Kyogen play, Busu as a translation called Waha in Sinhala was a successful drama which was
popular among high school students who were studying Drama and Theatre as a subject for University
Entrance Examination. Patrict Rathnayake, amateur for drama field, staged Kinbul Kandulu, original play,
Suminuri, Kyogen play by using the translation which was included in his Japan Natya Sangrahaya
(Anthology of Japanese Plays) by Professor Ariya Rajakaruna and the production should be revised again
for the suit for Sinhala audience. Again Priyankara Rathnayake performed the plays Kadadasi Belunaya
and Bilindu Ghatanaya which were completely failure, based on modern Japanese plays.
Looking into the above mentioned Sinhala dramas, it is clear that Buddhism has been playing main
role of them; I. e. theme, story, characters, background and the message and in the same time, most of
them that above discussed have been influenced by Japanese traditional theatre.
44
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